I Wouldn't Be Worth Much If I Couldn't Feel
by bigbew
Summary: Continuation of Just Something I Should Do. Cameron and John's relationship continues to develop while the Connors are provided with new missions from the future.
1. Chapter 1

**I know I said I would take a break, but I just couldn't resist! :)**

**Thanks to reviewers The1Russter, kaotic2, meanoldmoe, fullhans1, jojobevco, ElusiveSanity, Icemanss, Nyrki, CloudyShadows, TSCCandTwilightarehebest, MementoMoriYB, NordWest and TK-MR.**

**This is a continuation of a previous story. I highly recommend reading that one first or this probably won't make much sense!**

**(Also, in case you didn't notice, I went back and rewrote a small section of the end of chapter 12. I did it to try and clear up some apparent confusion over the ending)**

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* * *

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A pair of small legs dangled off the edge of the couch as Amy set about tackling her ice cream cone with abandon. Her cheeks were covered in the gooey substance and a happy smile adorned her lips. Sally noticed the cute little girls ears prick up when she heard the ice cream van jingle being played outside. She bought her a double chocolate chip cone with sprinkles and was rewarded with a surprisingly powerful hug from the little angel. In fact, Sally noticed that her entire mood perked up after she had hung up on whoever this 'Cameron' was.

_Awww, poor little darling. I'm gonna give this Cameron chick a piece of my mind when she gets here._

As Sally thought about what she was going to say to whoever turned up, Amy replayed her conversation with Cameron through her mimetic CPU.

"_Name and Rank"_

_Amy noticed a slight crack in her voice which was to be expected given what had just happened._

"_Cameron?"_

_..._

_Silence_

"_Cameron, I know it's you"_

_..._

"_He couldn't do it could he? He couldn't bring himself to wipe out your emotions"_

"_Who are you?"_

_A slight smile formed on Amy's face._

"_Let's just say I know you in the future. I have a message from your future self if you're interested?"_

_..._

"_She says 'Hello Cameron, I know you don't think so right now, but what has just happened between you and John is one of the best things that could have possibly happened to you'"_

_Amy spoke in Cameron's voice down the phone._

_..._

"_Could you come pick me up please? You should know now that I pose no threat to you or John"_

"_Where are you?" Cameron's mechanical tone had returned with a vengeance._

"_I'm in the lobby of the building where John got shot. A very nice lady is looking after me..."_

_Amy continued in a lower voice._

"_...please try to not terminate her when you get here"_

_Click._

Amy thought this Cameron wasn't as nice as future Cammy. Amy had given future Cameron that nickname, though no one else ever called her by it. _Perhaps it's inappropriate for her personality?_

Sally watched on as Amy's little legs continued to dangle playfully off the edge of the couch. She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and looked out of the glass building entrance as a large pickup truck came to a stop rather abruptly on the road outside. A pretty brunette in her late teens, early twenties hopped out of the driver's side, rounded the front of the truck and stalked towards the main entrance. Sally noticed that she walked kind of funny, sort of like when a dressage horse picks its feet up.

Cameron pushed the front door open with ease and marched right up to the front desk. Putting her best 'scary robot' face well and truly in place, she addressed the suddenly flustered looking receptionist.

"Somebody called me from this location approximately twenty minutes ago. Where is she?"

_Wow, not even a hello. What it up with this girl?_

Just as Sally was about to reply, Cameron felt a tiny, sticky hand grasp on to her right index finger and give it a gentle tug. She looked down and saw a small blonde girl attached to the hand. She had a goofy smile on her face and Cameron saw the source of the stickiness dripping on to the floor in the child's other hand.

"Hi Cameron..."

Cameron tilted her head to regard the little girl. She was NOT what Cameron was expecting to find when she arrived here. She performed a scan on the child.

_Scanning, standby..._

_Unknown model cyborg, no match to records..._

_Temporal displacement particles detected..._

_Analyzing voice pattern..._

_Match to telephone call..._

"...this is Sally, she's been looking after me, and she's very nice"

Taking the hint, Cameron turned to face the receptionist, her blank expression disappearing suddenly to give way to a bright, becoming smile.

"Hi, would you happen to have some tissues please?" Cameron asked, the smile never leaving her face.

Sally, to her credit, maintained her professionalism and pulled a handful of tissues out of the box she kept behind her desk and handed them to Cameron with a smile. Cameron sank down on to one knee and started wiping the child's cheeks and hands, Amy let out a giggle as she did so. Cameron modulated her voice synthesizer to a frequency beyond the range of human hearing and opened her mouth slightly.

"What's your name?"

Amy tilted her head slightly and responded silently.

"Amy. We need to leave here"

Cameron nodded as she continued to do her best to clean Amy's sticky hands and face. When she was satisfied with her work, she stood and walked over to the waste bin in the corner. She dropped the now ruined tissues in to it and returned to the reception desk. She looked at Amy when she approached and tilted her head towards the door slightly, Amy immediately made to follow as Cameron started walking towards the door. Sally jumped up from her spot behind the desk and raced around to the other side.

"Wait! You're leaving? Just like that?" Amy stared in disbelief as this teenage looking girl just turns up and leaves with Amy without so much as a thank you.

Cameron said nothing and continued walking, Amy on the other hand, turned and ran back to Sally. She threw her arms around the woman's waist and held on tight. She looked up at the nice lady and smiled.

"Thank you Sally" Amy squealed in childlike fashion.

Sally brought her hands down to rest on Amy's head and gently smoothed her hair.

"Take care of yourself sweetie" Sally said with a slightly sad smile.

Amy loosened her grip on Sally's waist and pulled back slightly, she flashed a bright grin.

"I will. Bye bye"

With that she turned and skipped back towards Cameron. Cameron was taken completely by surprise when Amy reached up and grabbed hold of her hand. She didn't know what to make of this strange model terminator and was slightly confused as to what to do now. The only experience she had ever had with children was with a young Martin Bedell, and he wasn't as clingy as this 'girl' seemed to be. Sensing Cameron's confusion and hesitation, Amy rolled her eyes and pulled Cameron toward the door and out of the building.

Sally watched them leave with a sad glint in her eye. That child sure was infectious. As Sally turned to resume her position behind the reception desk, she could have sworn she saw a metallic glint travel quickly across the tiled floor and rush up to Amy's foot. She looked again but saw nothing.

_Huh, must be the heat playing tricks on you._

She took a seat behind her desk and watched as Cameron opened the passenger side door of the truck and Amy climbed in. Shifting her gaze to the window, she saw Amy waving at her and smiling happily. Sally gave a small, sad wave back and watched as the truck pulled away and out of her sight.

* * *

"John"

...

"John"

...

"JOHN!"

John's eyes snapped open and took in the sight of his Uncle leaning over him with, rather oddly, a tray of food in his hands.

"Urgh, what?"

"Wake up. Momma Bear says you have to eat"

John shot a slightly confused and slightly disgusted look in his uncle's direction.

"Did you just call my mom 'Momma Bear'?"

"Uh, yeah, I think it kinda suits her"

John let out a humourless laugh and sat up, wincing in pain a couple of times in the process. After his emotionally and physically draining episode with Cameron, he had returned to his bed to recover some more and try to make sense of what had happened between them. He hadn't really succeeded on the either front, he still had no clue what he was going to do about Cameron and him and Derek had barged in just as he was drifting off to sleep. On one hand he had done what he felt was right and 'saved' Cameron from herself. On the other however, he had gone against her wishes and not rewritten her code. He still wasn't sure why she had asked him to do it. _I mean, surely she can alter her own coding without my help?_

Derek noticed John seemed to be caught up in his own little world. _Probably fantasising about the metal. _Derek had been brooding over what to do with the metal ever since he saw it put on its pretend crying act in the car. Despite the Jesse from this timeline not being the Jesse from his timeline, he still felt compelled to believe some of what she said. Maybe it was true that John had segregated himself from all other humans, spending his time with the metal and the metal alone. He recalled from his own future that he hadn't seen Connor in a long time until he emerged to inform him of his mission in the past. Any contact with John was made through his little metal whore and never directly.

Now it was John's turn to notice that Derek was off in his own world. John cleared his throat much louder than was necessary.

"Derek"

"Huh, what?" Derek shook his head and refocused his eyes on John who was gesturing to the tray in his hands.

"Oh, right" he handed John the tray and watched as he dug in to his mother's disgusting cooking greedily.

Not that Derek had ever really known fine dining, but he knew that Sarah Connor's cooking was legendarily bad. He learned that from the General in the future, in a time when he actually spent time with his command staff. Even then, the metal would be right on his shoulder, silently scanning for threats. Derek thought nothing of it at the time, having a metal bodyguard for the leader of the human resistance actually made a little sense, after all they could take bullets, and humans couldn't. As he watched John eat, he studied him carefully. He wasn't a boy anymore, but he wasn't yet a man, and he was only a distant shadow of the great General Connor. Certain traits shone through of what he was destined to become, like the way he had quietly investigated Riley and dealt with Jesse. But then again, he was so hopelessly dependant on that machine next door that it scared Derek, thinking of the possibility that he could actually be in love with a metal.

Derek started imagining a group of mini terminators that acted like real children running around. Almost gagging on his own vomit, Derek stood and walked over to the window. He stared out of it for a moment before turning and looking at his nephew who had just finished up his second helping of pancakes. _Yep, mini childlike Terminators are definitely my worst nightmare._

"So John..."

John, sensing what was coming, looked up from his tray at his battle hardened Uncle and waited for the inevitable.

"...the metal"

_There it is, right on cue._

John put down his fork and slowly and deliberately moved the tray off his legs and placed it on the bed. He folded his arms across his chest and regarded his Uncle with a cold stare. He thought about how he wanted to play this before replying.

"What about her?"

The steadiness of John's voice unnerved Derek slightly, but he collected himself and pulled the chair out from under John's desk. He sat down facing the bed and took a deep breath.

"It has to go..."

"Derek"

"...let me finish. John, it's unstable and unpredictable. I can't tell whether it's going to try and beat me in a staring contest or rip my head off. What if it suddenly decides it doesn't want to protect you anymore and thinks that your head would look better on a pike instead of attached to your neck"

_Got you._

"But, wait a minute Derek, I thought that Terminators were built on programming and didn't deviate from their directives. The last time I checked, she is programmed to protect me" John countered in a sarcastic tone, knowing full well that this wasn't true but was what Derek had always preached.

Derek leaned back in his seat, admitting to himself that John had him on that one. But he wasn't done yet.

"Alright, I'll give you that one. But you didn't see it John. You didn't see it put on its big fake crocodile tears and act like it actually cared about you. You were too busy being delirious and chatting it up to notice. You were shot, and it was too busy with its own messed up chip that it didn't even try to actually help you until I reminded it that you were injured and needed real help"

Derek took a moment to steady himself before continuing.

"John, I hate to say this, but you are being blinded by it. Sure, it looks damn pretty on the outside. Hell, if I didn't know what was underneath I'd sure as shit go there. But you need to get your head straight. It is a machine, it's dangerous and one of these days it will turn on you and you're pretty much screwed when that day comes"

John meanwhile had sat staring at his Uncle all through his rant. He took in every word and silently mulled over what he was being told. As much as he tried to concentrate on more important matters, one thought kept pushing its way to the front of his mind. _When was I chatting her up? _John nodded, more to himself than anything before straightening up and addressing Derek.

"You know what Derek? Every word of what you have just said is probably right. You're right that I'm at risk of her going bad every single day. You're right that I probably pay too much attention to her 'emotions'. You're right that I may be infatuated by the way she looks, as you said right, what guy in his right mind wouldn't go there? And you're right that if she does go bad again that I'm royally screwed"

John gave his Uncle a moment to digest his words and noticed he had perked up slightly in his chair.

"But I'm going to tell you, what I told Jesse..."

The mention of Jesse caused Derek to shift uncomfortably.

"...that even if she had killed Riley, I wouldn't have sent her away. That was her plan all along you know, she wanted Cameron to kill Riley. She wanted me to be forced to get rid of her, to send her away or melt her down. But that plan would never have worked, you wanna know why?"

Derek felt his anger starting to bubble slightly but kept it in check. He shook his head to answer John's question.

"I'll tell you. It's because, despite her many flaws which I'll admit she does have. Her arm twitches, she lets her emotions get the better of her sometimes, she dances, and she has a ridiculous attachment to that purple leather jacket. It's those flaws that make her who she is, and who she is, is my protector" John put extra emphasis on the last two words.

"She's my protector, and that's what she does. You could count using the fingers on one hand the amount of times I've come to harm in the last two years. But you'd need a calculator to work out how many times she has protected me, and will continue to protect me. She is invaluable in the fight against Skynet, and...she is invaluable to me. You may not want to hear it, but she has become my best friend. I have had and will continue to have a very lonely life. It is part of who I am and who I will become, and if she can help me avoid some of that loneliness by being there for me, then so be it"

He leaned his head back on to the pillow he was propped up against and tried to gauge his Uncle's reaction. It didn't look too good. John thought he could actually make out a vein pulsing in his forehead and could hear the wooden chair creaking in his death grip. He was on the verge of exploding.

If John had been fully healthy and on his feet then Derek would have grabbed his throat and tried to throttle some sense in to him. But then again he didn't want to piss Sarah off any more than he already had, the bruise around his eye a pertinent reminder of her displeasure with him. Using discipline only a soldier possessed, he stood up and carefully returned the chair to its position under John's desk and turned to his nephew once again. He nodded his head in understanding and acceptance.

"Fine, if that's the way you feel. I was going to offer you a choice, but now you've come out with that little speech it seems a little pointless"

He turned and head to the door.

"Derek, wait..."

John called to him just as he reached for the door handle.

"...what was the choice?" John had a feeling he knew what the answer would be but he felt he had to know for sure.

"I was going to give you the choice between the metal, and your own flesh and blood relation. But you've quite obviously made your decision already. I'll be seeing you around John"

John was lost for words as he watched his Uncle walk away. He didn't make a sound as Derek closed his bedroom door behind him.

Derek trudged down the stairs and walked straight out of the front door, not even sparing a sideways glance at a confused looking Sarah. He stomped over to the Jeep and got in, pulling out of the driveway in a hurry, almost crashing in to the returning Cameron in the truck. He shot her a sneer through the windscreen before screeching away down the street.

* * *

_15 minutes earlier._

The car journey home had been, not surprisingly, silent. To Cameron's continued amazement, Amy kept up the little girl charade even when in the presence of someone who knew her true identity. As soon as Cameron had pulled away from the building, she had used some of her mimetic mass to fashion a child seat underneath herself and was currently kicking her little legs happily off the edge of it. Cameron drove in silence for a full five minutes before the Terminator's constant smiling started to annoy her.

"What is your mission here?" Cameron didn't even turn to regard her companion, instead choosing to keep her eyes firmly on the road.

Amy merely turned her head to look at the 'older' cyborg and if anything broadened her smile.

"That's classified. I am only permitted to reveal that information to the Generals Connor..."

Amy hesitated for a moment.

"...both of them"

That last remark peaked Cameron's interest as she tore her eyes away from the road, only to find Amy staring back at her in a mysterious fashion.

"So, Sarah is alive in this timeline's future?"

"It's classified"

"Then John is married in the future, his wife is also a General?"

"Classified"

"Then he shares command with his offspring?"

"Class-if-ied" Amy chuckled lightly at Cameron's persistence.

Cameron was quickly growing tired of this little guessing game she had somehow engaged herself in, but at the same time was intrigued as to who shared command of the resistance with John. As a machine she knew that she shouldn't have the need for this information, but she felt like a small child who wasn't getting her way.

"If John orders you to tell me?"

"I don't take orders from John, or from you for that matter"

Cameron once again turned away from the road to look at her passenger, slightly intrigued by the thought of a free machine.

"Who do you take orders from?" Amy smiled slyly as she answered.

"No one. My mission objectives are made by me and me alone"

Cameron returned her eyes to the road with a sceptical look on her face.

"How is that possible? All Skynet machines are hardwired to follow its commands"

"No wires" Amy laughed loudly at her own joke. Even Cameron couldn't keep the small smirk off her face. Though she was determined not to be beaten by this strange little machine, she let the subject drop for now.

"So, who sent you back?"

Amy frowned at Cameron's question momentarily.

"Inquisitive little cyborg aren't we?"

Cameron looked at Amy again with her blank robot mask in place.

"I'm trying to ascertain if you are a threat to John. Why you are here remains a mystery to me. I don't like not knowing what people's intentions are towards John"

"You say that like you've gone through a similar experience before" Amy said knowingly.

"Yes, I have. John had a girlfriend for the past few months. She turned out to be from the future and was part of a plot to drive John away from me. I didn't know her intentions at the time, John was the one who discovered her true purpose. Were it not for him, I could have been a pile of melted down Coltan by now, Sarah Connor would surely have insisted on it..."

Cameron hesitated before continuing in a quiet voice.

"...I owe him my life"

The truck fell silent for a moment as Amy examined a suddenly sombre Cameron.

"Wow, you're a lot more talkative than you said you would be"

Cameron suddenly realised she had shown her vulnerability in front of a strange cyborg that she still had no clue about what its intentions were. She snapped her head around and saw only a bright, knowing smile facing her.

"The girl's name was Riley and the woman who masterminded it was Jesse Flores. She was in a secret relationship with Derek Reese and John confronted her about her plan. Riley is now dead and Commander Flores' location is currently unknown..."

She smiled again before deciding to let Cameron know once again that she was no threat to her or John.

"...and for the record, John insists that he would never have melted you down"

Cameron didn't look away from the road, but the merest hint of a smile danced across her lips.

"We're here"

Cameron performed a perfect ninety degree turn in to the Connor household drive way and almost ran in to Derek Reese heading in the opposite direction in the family Jeep. She didn't fail to notice the disgusted look he was giving her but chose to ignore it, Derek was of course insignificant to her. After expertly navigating her way around the Jeep, she pulled up to park outside of the house.

* * *

Just as Sarah was about to head upstairs to see what all the fuss was about with Derek, the front door opened. She watched as Cameron stepped through looking, if anything, rather sheepish.

"Cameron"

"Sarah"

Sarah could have sworn that the cyborg looked...nervous.

"What? What is it, what's going on?"

_Wow, she's good._

"Sarah..."

"No, don't you Sarah me, out with it"

Feeling like a thoroughly admonished teenager caught with her hand in the cookie jar, or whatever the teenage equivalent of that is, _caught with my hand in someone's pants? _Cameron sought to try and calm Sarah down first.

"...don't freak out"

Sarah scrunched her face up in a mixture of surprise and confusion at Cameron's use of the colloquial term, she watched as Cameron stepped aside and a little girl entered, quickly hiding behind Cameron's leg.

"What's this?" Sarah asked, quite clearly stumped as to why Cameron had brought a little girl in to their home.

"This is Amy, she's a friend" Cameron gently nudged Amy out from behind her leg and ushered her towards Sarah.

Sarah looked on as this cute little angel shyly stepped towards her. Her maternal instincts kicked in and she knelt down on one knee to greet the girl.

"Hi, I'm Sarah, nice to meet you" she gave her best motherly smile, despite the fact she was still a little confused as to Cameron's intentions.

Amy watched as Sarah extended her hand towards her, she gingerly took it and felt the slightest shake.

"You're prettier than I imagined"

"What do you mean sweetheart?"

_What is it with humans and pet names?_

"I mean, John described you to me, but his memory was a little fuzzy after so long"

"You know John?" Sarah asked warily, wondering just who this little girl is. Amy nodded vigorously, as if proud of the fact she knows John.

"Yes I do, and he gave me a message for you"

"A message huh?" _damn this girl is cute._

"Yes, he said 'Don't worry about Winston, you did the right thing'"

Sarah didn't register what the Amy had said, she instead only heard her son's voice coming from this little girl. His voice sounded even more gravely than usual, it sounded hardened, a voice that only comes with age and experience. Sarah withdrew her hand and stood up, she slowly started backing away.

"Wha, what are you?"

"Sarah, she is not threat to us" Cameron had positioned herself in between Sarah and Amy, fearful that Sarah would do something stupid to provoke her.

"Who is she? Why is she here?" Sarah was not so subtly starting to reach around her back to the 9mm in her waistband.

"Sarah, there is no need for that, it probably wouldn't do much harm anyway..."

She looked down at Amy.

"...show her"

Amy let her whole body shimmer in to its liquid form, revealing herself to Sarah. Sarah pulled out her gun and pointed it at Amy out of pure instinct. Before she could pull the trigger however, Cameron stepped right up to Sarah and placed herself in her line if sight, blocking her shot.

"Sarah, please calm down, I've told you, she is no threat"

"Oh yeah, and how do you know that?" Sarah was fuming, she was on the verge of shooting...something.

"Because, she knows, things"

The sad tone of her voice made Sarah falter slightly and shift her gaze to Cameron who was now looking at the floor and appeared to be in deep thought. Before Sarah could respond, she felt something cold wrap itself around her hands. The next thing she knew, the gun had been ripped from her grasp and was currently moving back towards Amy in the grip of a long metallic tentacle. Amy reformed a hand around the gun as Sarah watched on with a mixture of fear and surprise. Amy looked at the gun before suddenly pressing the clip release button and watching it fall to the floor. She racked the slide to eject the loaded round and expertly disassembled the gun in to two parts. She placed both parts on the ground next to the full clip and ejected round. She stood back up with a bright grin and looked at Sarah.

"I hate guns"

She then walked up next to Cameron, with Sarah back stepping a couple of times, and took hold of Cameron's hand.

_I need a drink._

Admitting defeat, but still trying to appear intimidating, Sarah stepped right in to Cameron's face.

"You watch her"

With that she walked to the front door, grabbed her coat and left the house slamming the door behind her.

Cameron and Amy looked at the closed door for a moment before looking at each other. Amy bounced up and down on the spot a little while tugging on Cameron's hand.

"Can we go see John now?"

Cameron hesitated, she still wasn't sure if it was safe for Amy to see John. Sensing that she felt this way, Amy rolled her eyes.

"It's not like you could stop me anyway, come on" she started walking toward the stairs, pulling Cameron along with her.

"No, but I'd die trying"

Amy smiled and looked back up at her.

"I know you would"

* * *

John heard the front door slam shut and the truck engine start up.

_Cameron must be home._

All people seemed to do in this house lately was argue. A soft knock on the door caught his attention.

"Come in" _and speak of the devil here she is. I am so not looking forward to this._

Despite his inner turmoil, he put on a cheerful smile as Cameron entered.

"Hi" he said rather meekly.

She tilted her head at his dejected appearance. "Hello"

"So, um, I guess we need to talk"

_So that's why he's upset. He is expecting to have to discuss his feelings, maybe later._

"We do, but not now. I have someone who wants to meet you"

This perked John up slightly.

"Oh yeah, who?"

Cameron stepped aside and John caught sight of a tiny hand gripping the edge of the door and a little blond head peeking out around it slightly higher up. John watched as she entered the room shyly and walked right up to his bed. He thought he saw Cameron flinch slightly but dismissed it when she took no further action.

"Hi, I'm John, what's your name?"

"Amy, it's nice to meet you General Connor"

"Well it's nice to meet...you...too...wait, what? General Connor...Cameron?"

John was thoroughly confused and looked to Cameron for help. She smiled a little as she replied.

"She's from the future John" she said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, yeah, I guessed that. But why would anyone send a little girl back through time"

"You wouldn't"

Amy surprised John by speaking. He shifted his gaze toward her and watched as her arms formed in to long metallic tentacles, similar to the ones she used to disarm Sarah. They slithered his way up behind him, out of the corner of his eye he saw Cameron take a step forward. He relaxed a little when he felt one tentacle raise him up slightly and heard the noise of the other one fluffing his pillow. She lowered him back down and withdrew the tentacles, smiling proudly as they reformed in to her arms.

"Oookay. So I take it you're not here to kill me, otherwise you wouldn't be fluffing my pillow. So my question is, why are you here?"

She folded her arms behind her back and started turning from one side to the other playfully.

"I'm here to help"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys,**

**Sorry for the long delay. I had a real struggle writing this chapter and couldn't motivate myself to get it done. This has contributed to the fact that I don't really like this chapter, but to be honest, it's as good as it's going to get. I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

**Thanks to reviewers olischulu, meanoldmoe, jojobevco, The1Russter, fullhans1, Dekardkain, kaotic2, Nyrki, bryan0711, ElusiveSanity, CloudyShadows and TK-MR.**

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If there's one thing Derek Reese knows how to do, it's how to find a good bar. Considering the fact that he was underage when the bombs fell on J-Day, and he had only been back in the past for a little over two years, he has the ability down to a fine art. This particular bar had everything a male resistance fighter from the future needs, cold beer, good music, sports on the TV, a pool table, dartboard and plenty of seats with a good view of both entrances. As he polished off his third beer and made a start on his fourth, his eyes shifted from the rather attractive blonde standing at the bar to the main entrance. The doors swooshed open to reveal a very pissed off looking Sarah Connor. Derek caught the bartender's eye and pointed to his beer, he had a feeling Sarah could use one. She sat down at the bar beside Derek with a thud and crossed her arms while she attempted to cool off.

Derek slid the beer over to her and watched as she downed almost half the glass in one go, swishing the last mouthful around before swallowing with a sigh of satisfaction. Eyeing her warily for a moment, he decided it would be best to let her talk if she wanted to. Appearing visibly calmer, Sarah looked at her new drinking buddy out of the corner of her eye.

"Stop staring at me Reese"

Derek, realising he had indeed been staring looked down at the beer mat he was conveniently twirling in his hands.

"Sorry. But you gotta admit, you look about as pissed off as I feel"

"You got that damn right"

"So uh, you wanna tell me what John's done now?"

Sarah turned to cast a curios glare in Derek's direction. _Am I really that predictable?_

"Actually it's Cameron that's pissed me off this time"

Derek actually chuckled lightly at the statement and Sarah performed a quick double take in surprise.

"Wow, so the metal's finally getting to you huh?"

Sarah took a quick swig of her beer before replying.

"No, not getting to me, but we have a new guest in the house. Someone that I wasn't consulted about and yet she just strolls in the door with her in tow"

The mention of a 'her' peaked Derek's interest.

"Her huh?"

Sarah smiled slyly.

"Yeah, I think you'd like her. She's blonde, perky and real cute..."

Sarah noticed Derek subconsciously licking his lips.

"...there's just a couple of drawbacks"

Derek huffed slightly and leaned back on his stool.

"Isn't there always?" He took a quick swig of his beer "And what are these drawbacks?"

"Well for one, she's eight and another she's uh, slightly cold to the touch"

Sarah raised her eyebrows hoping that he would catch the hint in the crowded bar.

"Wow, another one huh?" Derek took another swig, not even bothering to look Sarah's way.

"You're taking that news rather calmly" Sarah observed.

"Yeah..." He turned on his stool to face her.

"...If there's one thing I have just recently come to accept, it's that what John Connor wants, John Connor gets. I also know that a little chat from dear old Uncle Derek isn't going to change his mind. Here's to being stubborn as a mule"

He raised his glass in a mock toast before downing the remainder and signalling the barman for another. Sarah meanwhile looked at him like he'd just grown two heads and spit in her shoes.

"You, Derek Reese, are saying that you're okay with the machines?"

Derek sighed resignedly and answered her honestly.

"No, what I'm saying is that I don't like it. But I know I can't change it, so I'm taking the only other option available to me and I'm choosing to avoid it"

His beer arrived in front of him and he took a swig.

"What do you mean, avoid it?"

"I mean I'm moving out. I'll stay at a motel tonight and I'll look for a place tomorrow"

"So you're just giving up the fight?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"I didn't say that. I'm still in the fight and will do whatever is asked of me. But I'm not coming back to that house until it is either metal free or he puts his whore on a leash"

Oh how Sarah wished she could believe that would ever happen. She looked at the barman.

"Two tequilas...quickly"

* * *

"What do you mean, here to help? What do we need help with exactly?"

By this point John had, with Cameron's help, gotten himself out of bed and got dressed. Now he sat on the couch in the living room with Cameron standing to his side, positioning herself slightly in between John and Amy who stood opposite him at the exact distance between the couch and the wall.

"Let me first say that I am no threat to you, to either of you" she looked pointedly at Cameron "Please, sit down Cameron"

Cameron made no move to follow her instructions and continued to stare at the strange little machine. John looked at her and huffed at her stubbornness. He reached out and took her hand, giving it a slight tug. She tore her gaze away from Amy and to the face currently smiling tiredly up at her. She relented and moved to sit next to John on the couch. She sat close, her thigh just barely brushing against his. John rather reluctantly forced himself to let go of her hand, he was sure he felt her grasp a little tighter as he did.

"Go on" John motioned his hand for her to continue. A slight smile danced across Amy's face as she did indeed see the very early signs of their developing relationship as she had been told she would.

"I have a message that I'm only aloud to relay to the General's Connor. That's why I made that little display to make Sarah leave. This is a message for you two, General John Connor and...General Cameron Connor"

Amy tried to gauge their reaction to the new information. John looked a little shell shocked, his eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. Cameron meanwhile didn't look much better, while her face was under control as usual, her hand was twitching noticeably. Well, it was noticeable until she subtly tucked it under her leg to hide it from view, Amy couldn't help but smile at her insecurity. John meanwhile had gained partial control of his mouth back.

"Wha, what do you mean, Cameron Connor?" He swallowed nervously after speaking her future name for the first time.

"Maybe it's better if I let you explain"

Both John and Cameron watched as Amy closed her eyes and lowered her head slightly. John was caught slightly by surprise when she raised her head back up, kept her eyes closed and started talking in his voice.

"Hey John, it's me, or you, or whatever. So I'm guessing that you wanna know why, hic, Amy is there with you? Well let me tell you, this little guy is amazing...what...right...sorry, that this little _girl_ is amazing. What...alright, alright...could you just...shut up Cameron, and put your top back on, I'm trying to concentrate here for god's sakes. Now where was I..."

John's eyes snapped up to Cameron's, whose face he swore turned a slightly deeper shade. John suddenly felt glad that it was only the three of them in the room and that Sarah was nowhere to be found. To her eternal credit, she had the good grace to move slightly away from him on the couch so that they were no longer touching.

"...oh yeah, right. First off let me explain that she's come from your future, not mine, or what used to be mine...yeah that's right. She's from the current future timeline that was created after we sent Cameron back to ourselves. Damn that's confusing, how can I explain this better? I assume you remember the first time you met Cameron, and you thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world, well I remember that day too. I also remember what just did, or rather didn't happen between you two. The only thing I can say is that you made the right choice. You did good buddy..."

Evidently Cameron didn't think so as out of the corner of his eye he saw her head drop and her eyes shift to the floor. He gingerly reached over and rand his hand down her bare forearm and squeezed her wrist lightly. She looked up at him and saw an encouraging smile being shown back at her. She smiled in return and directed her eyes back to Amy.

"...Anyway, Amy here is a result of Skynet being afraid of its own creations. A few T-1001's went rogue and started thinking for themselves, and as we all know Skynet doesn't take kindly to that sort of thing. As you know, the T-1000 was damn near impossible to kill. Anything short of a vat of molten steel and you're royally screwed..."

Cameron noticed John had stiffened slightly at the mention of the T-1000 that had nearly killed him and his mother, and had cost him his T-800 protector he had grown fond of. She briefly wondered if John would feel the same way when the day came that she had to die for his survival. Although it was clearly evident from the recording that day was a long way off.

"...So Skynet created Amy here. She is a T-1002, and was created especially for the purpose of Skynet experimentation. She has the exact same liquid metal matrix as a T-1001, but she was designed to be a little more docile and compliant with Skynets commands. Don't get me wrong, she's as smart as any model we've seen, it's just that she wasn't really aware at the time she was created, she was essentially a blank slate. Skynet was trying to develop a weapon that was capable of disintegrating liquid metal Terminators at the molecular level and built Amy in order to test it. We're not sure of the details, but what we do know is that liquid metal models don't have conventional chips like all other models do. Their CPU runs throughout their entire matrix and is constantly shifting...."

Future John's voice had started to crack and the emotion was clearly audible as he continued.

"...Skynet took its time with her. We believe the torture lasted for weeks while they perfected this new weapon. From what we were able to gather from our examinations of her, some portion of the control programs were lost as part of the disintegration along with about forty percent of her mass. That's why she takes on a child's form most of the time, why this exact appearance we're not sure, she never told us. She's either stuck in some sort of infiltration mode, or she's just plain crazy, we just don't know. She escaped from Skynet once she realised that what they were doing was hurting her, and the loss of some of the control subroutines allowed her to do this..."

Cameron had subconsciously shifted closer to John and had now laid her hand protectively on his knee. John meanwhile had his mouth open wide and was simply trying to comprehend the sheer evil of Skynet. He didn't think it would go as far as torturing its own creations, but apparently Skynet doesn't have lines it's unwilling to cross.

"...We found her in one of the tunnels during one of our patrols in her current form. Cameron recognised that she was a machine and was about to terminate her until Amy spoke. Whatever she said must have stirred something in Cameron because she brought her back to meet me and she's been around ever since. I've asked Amy to keep this recording private between us four and I trust her to do that, I'm half expecting her now to be in standby or something where she's not consciously aware of what's coming out of her mouth. She has her own mission in the past that she's aware of and will tell you about it shortly. But for now, all I can say is to trust her, we don't need to see her programming to know she'd never hurt either of you. Ungh..."

John and Cameron looked at each other at future John's sudden groan which sounded like a mix of pleasure and surprise. He continued in a hushed tone as if it mattered how quietly he spoke.

"...oh and John..." he hesitated as if looking around for eavesdroppers "...Don't you dare ever let Cameron go, we'd never forgive ourselves, ungh, believe me. Between you and me dude, ungh, she can do some _amazing _things with her feet, not to mention other parts of her anatomy"

John's jaw dropped at the frank manner his future self discussed his relationship with Cameron so openly and that she was quite clearly doing _something_ to him during the recording. He listened closer as what sounded like a pillow hit what he assumed was the back of John's head.

"Ow, you are so going to pay for that sweetheart, come here..."

John faintly heard a feminine yelp of surprise and what sounded like bed springs creaking. The recording died immediately afterward leaving the room in silence. John looked over to Cameron who appeared as shocked as he felt. He looked down at his knee and at Cameron's hand which still lay there. Amy woke up to the sight of Cameron frozen in place with her hand on John's knee while John stared at her hand with his jaw almost touching the floor.

"What did you say to yourself?" Amy asked in confusion and amusement.

* * *

Cameron watched the surrounding areas of the house from her position on the front porch. After hearing his future self's message, John had skulked off to his bedroom, presumably to brood and Amy had begun familiarising herself with the house and local neighbourhood. She was currently on her third trip around the house and Cameron could hear her bare feet shuffling along the corridor outside of their bedrooms. She heard her hesitate for a moment outside John's door before continuing on her merry way.

She had been analysing Johns, and apparently her message from the future for the last hour. Although John did all the talking, it was obvious she was in the room and apparently in a state of undress. It was also readily apparent that they were in fact intimate. While she was fully aware she was capable of being sexually active, she had never believed that at some point she would actively participate in it. Her body was indeed different from any other previous designs and as she had once told John 'I feel, I wouldn't be worth much if I couldn't feel'. But now she was starting to realise just how much she could be capable of feeling. While she had experienced several forms of what she described as pleasure or happiness, future Cameron had obviously been able to take enough from the intimacy with John that it was worth repeating. This thought both intrigued and confused Cameron. _Could I really be in a meaningful relationship with someone?_

'Someone' wasn't really accurate, John was the only one for her and the only one she would allow to touch her in such a fashion. Just where in her CPU she pulled that thought from she didn't know, but deep within the recesses of her Terminator brain, she knew it was true. She also didn't know why she was even thinking about any of this, even though the possibility of a relationship with John intrigued her she knew she should have been focusing on her mission. Her mission at the moment was to safeguard the property, but she was so focused on her thoughts about John that she failed to notice Sarah's return, oddly enough in a taxi cab. The sound of the car door slamming shut and the sight of Sarah stumbling up the driveway towards her snapped Cameron back to attention.

_Analysing body posture and movement..._

_Sarah Connor is inebriated..._

_Action: attempt to help her and do not piss her off..._

Wait, what? 'Do not piss her off_?'_ Where did that command structure come from? She filed her rapidly changing behaviour patterns away for later analysis and watched Sarah approach. She chanced a greeting.

"Hello Sarah" to anybody else it was a friendly greeting, but to Sarah it may as well have been a slap in the face. She walked right up to Cameron and shoved her face right in the cyborgs until Cameron could smell the liquor on her breath.

"What did you say?" anger dripping from her tone.

"I said, Hello Sarah" Cameron replied in confusion.

"Oh right, hello Sarah. Is that what he sees in you, your unflappable niceness?"

"I don't understand" the statement was of course accompanied by the usual tilt of her head.

"No, that must be it. It's that little puppy dog expression that he can't resist. What is it exactly that you want with him?"

Cameron's head tilted even further at Sarah's angry rant. "I don't know what you mean Sarah"

Sarah scoffed at the cyborg, she of course thought she was making perfect sense. She didn't realise that she hadn't mentioned John's name once.

"Yeah you do, you know, you, you have my son wound so tightly around your little finger that he can't see straight. I wanna know what he sees in you. Sure you're damn pretty hell, I've even caught myself looking at you, funny, once or twice. But he's not stupid, so what is it? What does my son see in you that is so special that he's willing to outcast his uncle in favour of you?"

Realisation finally dawned on Cameron what Sarah was babbling about. She came up with two plans on the spot, either tell the truth or deny all knowledge of what Sarah was getting at. She decided on the former.

"I honestly don't know. Have you asked John?"

"I'm asking you girlie. I can't get a straight answer out of him anyway, so come on, what is it?" Cameron's shoulders slumped at Sarah's persistence as she looked resigned to failing her mission choice of 'not pissing off Sarah Connor'.

"I once told you that I am his best friend. I still believe that's true. Being John Connor can be lonely, and if he can enjoy some form of companionship with me, then I will do my best to make sure I'm always there for him"

Cameron's frank admission caused Sarah to stumble backward slightly. If what she was saying was true, she does all that she does for John's benefit, because 'being John Connor can be lonely'. Sarah knew deep down that she wasn't going to be around forever, and this thought often kept her awake at night and gave her nightmares on the rare occasion she was able to drift off. She was torn between wanting John to have at least some company in the future when she was gone, and the nagging thought that she was indeed being replaced.

"Sarah? Sarah?"

Sarah snapped out of her reverie and realised Cameron had quietly moved behind her and was currently supporting some of her weight on her now unsteady legs. She shrugged her off and walked in to the house, Cameron merely stared at her back as she walked away. She had been expecting some sort of backlash from her admission, instead all she received was a blank stare from a suddenly unsteady Sarah.

Sarah stumbled in to the house, leaving Cameron on the porch. She didn't want to tackle the stairs in her current state and settled for the couch instead. On her way she almost literally bumped in to Amy, only the mini machines lightning quick reactions prevented the collision. Sarah noticed her but continued on her path to the couch and threw herself down on to it in a heap. She rolled over on to her side and curled up in to a ball. Just a she had started to drift off to sleep, she felt another set of eyes on her. She tentatively opened hers to see Amy standing about a foot in front of her staring at her.

"What?" Amy tilted her head in a similar fashion to Cameron.

"There was no need to be mean to her"

"To who?" Alcohol and exhausted women are not a good combination.

"To Cameron. You were mean to her, why?"

"It's none of your concern" with that, Sarah assumed the conversation was over and closed her eyes again.

"Yes it is. They're my friends. Both of them"

Sarah didn't reply and Amy detected the signs of sleep in her. Amy let out a very human sounding sigh of sadness and formed one of her arms in to a long metallic tentacle. It inched its way over to Sarah and carried on past her to the blanket thrown over the back of the couch. The tentacle grabbed on to it and pulled it down over Sarah's shoulders before reforming in to Amy's arm. She watched it reform before turning and heading to the front door and out on to the porch where Cameron stood with her back to the house.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked from her position near the door frame.

"Yes, I'm fine" Amy turned and headed back in to the house.

What she didn't see was the moonlight reflecting off Cameron's tear stained cheeks.

* * *

**Just one more set up chapter and then we'll get to some proper Jamerony goodness, I promise!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys,**

**This is the last set up chapter before the story really starts moving and I hope you enjoy it. I think this is the fastest chapter I've ever wrote, I really can do stuff well when I concentrate!**

**Thanks to reviewers fullhans1, jojobevco, The1Russter, kaotic2, olischulu, lee443, morded, meanoldmoe, phantomwriter05, Nyrki, ElusiveSanity, CloudyShadows, midnightjen and Dekardkain. Also thanks to those who reviewed the mini story set in the last chapter!**

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* * *

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_Always the sun, why always the god damned sun?_

As Sarah lamented just why she always seemed to wake up facing the sun when she had a hangover, she desperately tried to screw her eyes shut further than they already were.

"Morning mom"

Sarah opened her eyes very gingerly, as if it would lessen the throbbing in her head.

"John?" she managed to croak out.

"Yeah"

"What are you doing in my room?" she asked, confusion clouding her sleep fuddled brain.

John chuckled slightly as he held out a steaming hot cup of coffee for her to take.

"Look around, we're not in your room. You think I'd be dumb enough to trespass on the forbidden lands?"

No matter what mood Sarah was in, the sight of her son smiling would always cheer her up. Looking around, she saw that they were in the living room and she was on the couch with a blanket on top of her.

"What time did I get home last night?" she asked as she sat up and took the cup from his hands.

"You know, I'm not really sure, but I think you might need these" he reached over and handed her a couple of pills which she readily accepted. She popped them in her mouth and took a long swig of her coffee, ignoring the intense heat.

"Mmm, that's better. Thanks for this by the way" she held up the blanket and nodded her head towards it, an action which she immediately regretted when her head swam.

"Wasn't me, I was asleep"

"Ugh, I don't really wanna know who it was then"

He was determined to see his plan through and not let her off the hook.

"Well, what's the last thing you remember?"

"John..." Sarah put on her best warning tone.

"No, come on, I'm interested now, it's like a little mystery" John said with absolutely no humour in his voice.

"...I remember coming home in a cab, that reminds me, someone needs to pick up the truck today..."

"Uh-huh, and then what happened?"

"...I bumped in to Cameron on the porch..."

"Uh-huh"

"...and then I fell asleep, apparently here, happy now?"

"So...who do you think pulled the blanket on top of you" John asked knowing full well what the answer was.

"Must have been Cameron" Sarah assumed, not even remembering the reason why she went on a drinking session in the first place.

"Guess again. I can tell you now that it wasn't Cameron..."

Sarah looked at him quizzically. _What is he getting at?_

"...What did you say to her?"

_Why couldn't he have just said that in the first place?_

"What do you mean?"

"I know that Cameron didn't pull the blanket over you. I know that because she's upset, and she doesn't do nice things for people that upset her. She was fine yesterday and now she's pissed off for some reason..."

He omitted the part about the revelation of their future relationship and apparent marriage and how that had affected her mood too.

"...Now it seems to me that you were the last person to see her, so it stands to reason that you've done or said something to upset her. So come on, out with it, what did you say to her?"

By now John had sat back in his chair with his arms folded over his chest. He had his best 'General Connor' face on and was hoping he appeared intimidating. Apparently it worked as he watched his mother squirm uncomfortably on the couch.

Despite vaguely remembering having some form of confrontation with Cameron the night before, Sarah was torn between a few thoughts. The first being realisation that the other mini metal must have tucked her in last night, an involuntary shudder made its way down her spine at that thought, and the other was that John was concerned that she'd somehow 'upset' his 'best friend'. Despite her obvious discomfort, and she had to admit slight fear, at the glare her son was giving her, she felt the need to try and reassert her own authority.

"John. She's a machine, they don't get upset. I know she may seem different, but she's just the same as the other eight hundred you sent back, she's just the same as Cromartie and she's just the same as the new mini metal"

John laughed humourlessly upon hearing the same old argument coming from his mother.

"First of all, she is nothing like Cromartie..." real venom dripped from his voice when he said the word 'nothing'.

"...and secondly, that's your problem. You know that the 'mini metal' has a name. Her name is Amy, and she is nothing like Cromartie either and you know it. These machines are people mom, they're just made of different materials to us. Until you learn to accept that, well I pity you..."

"John..." she said pleadingly.

"...No, you listen to me. Don't you dare tell me Cameron can't get upset. I know how upset she can get, I suffered a bruised cheek and a very cold shoulder because I said something stupid..."

At that moment John realised he had said something stupid again. He had revealed to his still potentially very dangerous mother that Cameron had hit him. He only had one choice now and that was to plough on with his berating of her and not give her any room to use that against him, or her.

"...So I'm asking you to do this for me. Will you start treating Cameron better than you have been, will you respect her for what and who she is? That goes for Amy too, now I don't really know her yet, but I sent her back so I must trust her. I'd like you to be able to do the same one day..."

John's tone noticeably softened as he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"...Please mom, I don't want you to be like Derek and run away just because you can't take Cameron being here. Judgement Day is right around the corner and isn't going away any time soon. I have to start being in charge sooner or later. I don't want to be, but I can accept that I have to be. All I ask is that you accept Cameron for who she is and respect my decisions..."

John gave it a moment for his words to sink in.

"...Please mom. I still need you and I always will, it's just that I need Cameron too, and Amy, and anyone else who's willing to help me, to help us"

Feeling like he'd made his point eloquently and authoritatively, he sat back and waited for his mother's reaction. He didn't want her to know this but his heart felt like it was trying to pound its way out of his chest.

Sarah sat for a moment to digest his words. While she was by no means happy at being spoken to like that by her own son, she thought about his words carefully, particularly the last comment. It was as if he could read her subconscious mind, her fear of being replaced by Cameron in his eyes. While she was still upset and shocked at his attitude towards her, the small act of reassuring her that he still needed her went a long way towards comforting her. She slowly nodded.

"Okay John. If that'd what you want I'll respect your wishes. Just be careful, that's all I'll say. It's going to take me a while to trust them as much as you do, but until I do, or even if I ever do, then I still want you to be careful. You have a tendency to become attached to people, Charlie, Uncle Bob, remember what happened to him?"

John let out the breath he had been holding when he realised he had finally come to a tentative understanding with his mother about Cameron. Without warning he practically leaped out of his chair and flung his arms around Sarah's neck.

"Thank you"

Sarah smiled and returned his embrace.

"I'm proud of you John"

"I'm proud of you too. You just referred to the eight hundred as a person and called him Uncle Bob. You're learning already" John grinned his way through the entire hug.

Sarah grinned back before giving him a sharp poke in his uninjured ribs making him pull away from the hug.

"Oww, what was that for?"

"You're smothering me, now go and leave your mother to wake up in peace" she brought her now lukewarm coffee up to her lips and sipped at the contents. John meanwhile turned and headed towards the kitchen, in the best mood he'd been in a long time.

* * *

Since her earlier conversation, or rather confrontation with Sarah, Cameron had been analysing what had been said between the two. She'd also been considering the message Amy relayed from the future. _Cameron Connor? Really? _Oddly though, Cameron had chosen to do her thinking in the middle of John's bedroom while watching him sleep.

She realised that almost everything Sarah said was true. It would appear to anyone else that she was trying to manipulate John. If only she knew the lengths Cameron was prepared to go to protect John, including wiping out her emotions.

"Cammy?"

Amy had quietly returned from, whatever it was she was doing, and now stood in the doorway peering in to John's room through the open door. Cameron slowly turned her head away from John and watched as Amy walked in to the room, her bare feet not making a noise. She came and stood beside Cameron and joined her in watching John. After a moment she looked up at Cameron then back to John, as if trying to fathom out what she was staring at. Then she remembered the future Cammy telling her that she used to do this often, just to make sure John was safe. But even then, there was always something more to her actions that she couldn't quite understand. After many years of growth and development she had finally realised why she did it and explained it to Amy. Sudden realisation dawned on Amy and she looked back up at Cameron before speaking barely above a whisper.

"You love him, don't you?"

"I...I'm not sure. I don't know if I even know how to love" Cameron slowly turned away from John and walked toward the door. She slipped out of the room and waited for Amy to follow and closed the door behind her softly. She motioned towards her room with her arm and watched Amy shuffle off down the corridor. They both entered her room and Cameron closed the door behind them. She turned to face Amy who was standing in the middle of the room and looking around with an open mouth.

"Did you want something?"

Amy continued to stare at Cameron's room with wonder. She slowly performed a full 360 degree turn before looking over her shoulder at Cameron.

"I didn't think your room would be so pretty Cammy" Amy said with a smile, referring to the pink flowery wallpaper of the room that obviously used to belong to a little girl at one point.

Cameron looked around as if noticing the decoration for the first time.

"It wasn't my choice..."

She looked at Amy who continued to be mesmerised by the pretty walls.

"...Why do you call me that? It's not my name"

Amy tore her gaze away from the walls and looked at Cameron like their roles were reversed and she was the small child.

"Um, because it's short for Cameron, it's a nickname silly"

"Oh, thank you for explaining. Does anyone else call me that where you come from?" she asked almost hopefully.

_Nickname, definition - a shortened or familiar form of a person's name..._

_Analysis – people may be comfortable enough with you in the future to give you a non derisory nickname..._

She made the clear distinction between a non derisory nickname and the type she had become used to after living with Derek Reese for nearly two years.

"No, just me"

"Oh" Cameron sounded disappointed, more than she probably should have been.

"But John has a nickname for you"

"Really?" if a cyborg could sound like an excited child, Cameron was doing her best impression.

"Yeah, he calls you his Princess, he never told me why"

A warm feeling of, something, passed through Cameron's CPU as she heard the future term of endearment.

"I know why" she replied with a shy smile.

"Oookaay, anyway, to answer your question, there's something I need to tell you. Future you told me to do this, to tell you what I'm about to tell you first before I tell the others"

"Hmm, what?" Amy smiled as Cameron was so busy being caught up in happy thoughts that she hadn't listened to a word she had said. Cameron took a moment to replay the conversation in her CPU.

"Why do you need to tell me first?"

"I don't know, you said you'd need some time to think about it..."

Cameron nodded and moved to sit on the end of her bed. Amy soon hopped up and joined her.

"...Do the words 'will you join us' mean anything to you?"

Cameron immediately stiffened at the mention of those words. They brought up memories of Jesse, and more particularly how Jesse had used Riley to try and separate John from her. She was so shook up that her hand started to twitch again, this time she was unable to hide it and Amy noticed.

"...Oh yeah, and don't worry, we'll fix that too" she said nodding to Cameron's hand.

Cameron glared down at her hand, as if staring at it hard enough would magically fix it.

"Yes, I know those words. That's the proposal that was delivered to the leader of the liquid metal resistance by John in the future. It was rejected based on the actions of Jesse Flores and the human crew of the Jimmy Carter"

"Well...it, is here in this timeline" when Amy said the word 'it', she said it with real genuine disgust in her voice. Cameron found it odd that she would refer to one of her own kind like that but chose to ignore it in favour of the more important information.

"Why?"

Amy did not like one little bit where this conversation would lead them, but knew it was for the best that this happen.

"We don't know, and we don't know what form it's taking. But I do know that it is important that we find it as quickly as possible, and I know where to start looking"

"Why?" Cameron did not like not knowing things.

"Because the future may depend on it"

* * *

"No, Chicky and Fluffy aren't talking to Feathers right now" Savannah Weaver said as she took Feathers from her friends grasp and placed him back on the metal table.

"Why not?" John Henry asked with his usual child like inquisitiveness.

"Because he ate all the bread at the pond and didn't leave any for Chicky and Fluffy"

"That's a bad thing?"

"John Henry...of course it is. If they don't eat they could get sick, and being sick is not nice" Savannah stated in her best 'duh, stupid' tone.

"Why is it not nice?"

"It doesn't feel good, it makes people sad when they're sick or they're hurt"

"So hurting people makes them feel sad" John Henry added the information to his internal database of 'Things Savannah Says' for later analysis.

"Yes, and I don't like feeling sad"

"Do you feel sad often Savannah?"

The little girl sank down in her seat slightly and withdrew her hands from the duckies to place them in her lap.

"Sometimes"

"Why do you feel sad?"

"Sometimes I get sad when I think of my Daddy, and my Mommy"

"But your Mommy is here, why do you feel sad when you think about her?"

Just as Savannah was about to reply the door swung open abruptly to reveal Catherine Weaver in all her unemotional glory. Dressed in her usual business dress and high heels she strode over to the table where her 'children' were playing. Savannah quickly wiped her eyes before picking up Feathers and placing him back next to his friends.

"Hello Ms. Weaver" John Henry said brightly.

"Hello John Henry, you requested my presence?"

"Yes, I have a matter to discuss with you"

Catherine looked down at her 'daughter' who was looking away shyly, obviously disappointed that her playtime had been interrupted.

"Savannah darling..."

"Yes?"

"...It's late. Would you say goodnight to John Henry and go wait for me near the elevator. I'll take you home and we can stop off at McDonalds on the way"

Savannah's face instantly brightened as she jumped up from her chair to hug her mother. Even though it was not a mission priority, Catherine had found that she was becoming increasingly proficient at looking after the little red headed girl. While she wasn't sure why, she knew that she would try to protect Savannah at all costs if any harm were to come to her.

"Bye bye John Henry, I'll see you tomorrow" Savannah said as she practically sprinted out of the room and towards the elevator, waving over her shoulder as she went.

"Goodbye Savannah" John Henry waved in reply. As soon as she was out of hearing range, Catherine turned to face her boy.

"What have you found John Henry?"

"We have a visitor from the future"

* * *

After recovering significantly from that morning's encounter with John and last night's encounter with Tequila and Sambuca, Sarah had to suffer the indignation of being summoned to the living room by Amy. She was however determined to try and comply with John's wishes and didn't grumble when a certain mini metal made a smartass comment about her being late. She took a seat in the chair by the door and waited for Amy to speak from her position standing in front of the fireplace.

"Hello everyone. I've asked you all here to..."

"Hold on a sec. What are you doing?"

Amy looked bemused for a moment before John turned to face Cameron who was yet again standing stock till beside the couch John was currently occupying.

"Would you sit down please?"

Sarah watched on with amusement as Cameron rather sheepishly sat down on the couch next to John. She did notice however that she didn't sit anywhere near as close to him as she had been doing as of late. She'd been using any excuse to sit practically in his lap, but this time she seemed almost hesitant to be near him. _Hmmm, maybe all is not well in the Cameron camp._

John turned back to Amy from the confused stare he was giving Cameron and shook his head slightly, earning a conspiratorial wink from Amy.

"As I was saying, I'd like to inform you of what my primary mission is"

"Wait what? Your primary mission? You have more?" John asked in confusion.

"I do. Although I'm only permitted to reveal my primary mission to you all"

Sarah restrained herself from leaping out of her seat and instead calmly spoke.

"You can't tell us what your other missions are, and we're just supposed to accept that?"

"Mom" John shot across to her in warning, but she evidently chose to ignore him.

"Yes, you are, and I would like to remind you that I don't follow orders from anyone, not even John. I am here of my own free will and will follow my missions because _I_ choose to. That also means I choose when and how I do things. If you have a problem with that..."

Amy left that sentence unfinished, relying on Sarah's imagination to fill in the blanks. Sarah meanwhile was very concerned that this Terminator seemed perfectly capable of switching from the sweet little girl to this menacing machine in the blink of an eye if she didn't like what was going on around her.

"No...I don't" Sarah slumped back down in to the seat, thoroughly defeated.

"Okay then. In the future there are people, humans, who have chosen to help Skynet. They are traitors to our cause and are despised as the lowest of the low. Most of the resistance fighters are friendlier with us machines than they are with these people. We call them Greys, and Skynet has been sending them back to various points in time for the past few years of the war..."

"WHAT?" Sarah screamed in a mixture of confusion and anger.

"How come we're only hearing this now?" her attention was now focused solely on Cameron who didn't respond.

"...We only just found out a month ago. The Generals Connor took the decision to send me back based on this information"

After taking one look at John's glare, Sarah backed away from Cameron on the couch. She hadn't realised that in her anger that she had sprung up and advanced menacingly on the cyborg. She sat back down on her seat and tried her best not to look at the disappointment she knew was present on John's face.

Amy watched the interaction with fascination. From what future John had told her, she knew that John always revered his mother. However she also knew that the only thing he ever defied her about was Cameron, even in these early days this was clearly evident from the defensive posture he took up when Cameron was threatened. Amy found it sweet, if a little pointless, after all it's not like she can't take care of herself.

"Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..." she glared at Sarah for emphasis.

"...Greys have been sent back through time. They've been dispersed at various points in the last three years and their missions are varied. Several of them took control of the entity you know as Kaliba, how they did it so quickly we don't know, and quite frankly don't care. My mission here is to hunt them down and prevent them from causing any more damage to the timeline..."

She paused a moment and looked at the faces in the room at the reaction to her words. Sarah looked like she was spoiling for a fight. John looked severely upset and disappointed and Cameron, well Cameron looked like she usually looks, like a blank slate.

"...I will carry out this mission on my own. I've already taken care of the Kaliba management and I only require your help for one part of my mission which I'll explain soon, your jobs are to prepare for Judgement Day. Despite what you may believe, it is inevitable, it is coming and you need to be ready, all of you. These are your orders John, you didn't get this warning before and it cost you dearly in the early days of the war"

John looked up from his lap to see Amy looking at him with a sympathetic look on her face. He knew this was the moment he had to act. The gauntlet had been thrown down and now all were looking to him to lead. He glanced around and saw his mother looking at him sadly, and then to Cameron. She didn't speak, but her eyes showed something to John that told him she'd be there for him no matter what happened. After smiling slightly at Cameron, he returned his gaze to Amy and slowly stood.

"What are we waiting for?"

* * *

**I have a stag do to go to next weekend so there probably won't be a new chapter for at least a fortnight. Don't worry, I'll make up for it by making it an excellent chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, I know I said there would be a delay but when I get an idea in my head I'm tough to stop!**

**It took me about 10 attempts to get this chapter done. Usually I write a chapter completely in order, (beginning, middle, end) but this time I had to skip a few parts and go back and redo them. I don't know why :(**

**Thanks to reviewers kaotic2, morded, Cartman-2029, olischulu, The1Russter, Nyrki, jojobevco, J0hn_Henry, fullhans1, Akaryd, Dekardkain, CloudyShadows and NordWest.**

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* * *

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_What are we waiting for?_

John scoffed audibly at his own question. Apparently they were waiting for a good night's sleep, mommy's orders.

"Yeah right"

John had gotten himself all worked up thinking that finally there would be some action, some reason for him to get more involved in the fight against Skynet.

_But nooo, mommy sent me off to bed like I'm eight years old again. 'You need your rest' my ass._

_Speaking of eight year olds, what is up with this Amy anyway? I know I, or we, must trust her enough to send her back when apparently she isn't reprogrammed. If she can just make up her own missions then she is clearly on our side. Otherwise I'd be dead now and its goodbye humanity._

John rolled over on to his side and peered from above the covers at his bedroom door.

_Damn, I gotta get some new bedsheets. Buzz Lightyear went out years ago._

Despite having redecorated his bedroom with Riley's help, the only clean sheets in the house that fit his single bed were those that belonged to the previous occupants, ironically probably some eight year old boy.

_I mean, she's ridiculously cute one minute and it's like she could rip your head off the next. Kinda reminds me of another cyborg I know._

John sighed and closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to derail his own mind from its current thought process. No such luck.

_Just what is going on in Cameron's head? First off she asks me to wipe out her new emotions. How could I possibly have done that? Since she's discovered and started to embrace them we've been closer than ever. She really has been my best friend recently. I wouldn't have it any other way. Well...dammit John stop it, she's not just some sex bot sent back for your pleasure so cut it out._

John rolled on to his back and gave himself a sharp slap on the cheek for allowing himself to succumb to his teenage hormones.

_Then again, we found out that at some point in the future we are...intimate. What was up with that message, I wonder what was going on in that room? I guess future me actually sounded happy too. I always thought the future and the war would be constantly miserable, obviously Cameron was the main reason for him being so happy. I mean after all 'being John Connor can be lonely'._

"You're telling me" John once again rolled on to his side, no signs of sleep approaching any time soon.

_And the way she's been acting lately, it's like she's reverted back to her old mechanical self. Standing guard next to me instead of sitting beside me, sentry duty out on the front porch instead of in the living room. I probably shouldn't notice this but she hasn't wore those cute pyjamas for a while, now she's always dressed for some sort of battle, she's only a helmet short of looking like a special forces commando lately. Damn her butt looks amazing in those pyjamas._

John immediately jumped out of his bed and slapped himself firmly on the cheek again, trying to regain some form of self control. After a few moments pacing he sat back down on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

_Can't sleep, need to do something...kitchen, food, water...anything._

Desperate for some form of distraction John quietly shuffled his way out of his room and down the stairs in total darkness. He made a beeline for the kitchen, failing to notice Cameron sitting on the couch in the living room with her back to him.

"Hello John"

John stumbled in to the bookcase in surprise and let a few choice curse words escape. After taking a few moments to calm down with his hand over his chest, he walked around in front of Cameron. She sat stiff as a board on the otherwise comfortable and soft couch with her hands folded daintily in her lap. Her vision seemed unfocused and her head was tilted slightly.

"Please don't do that"

"Sorry" she said in a tiny voice, her eyes rather unusually not finding his, in fact still not focusing on anything at all.

"It's okay..." John sighed. He looked around the room, doing his best to take in his surroundings in the dim moonlight.

"...Where's Amy?"

"Patrolling the neighbourhood" still no focus, or her usual strong voice.

"Sooo, what are you doing?" John ventured.

"Thinking" came her quiet reply.

"Oookay, about what?"

"Things"

Sensing that he wasn't going to get any answers out of her when she was in this sort of mood, John gave up. _Just what sort of mood is this anyway?_

"I'm gonna make a sandwich, you want anything?"

"No thank you" John was used to her being polite, but never quite this timid.

Huffing slightly he made his way to the kitchen to prepare his sandwich. Just as he was raking around in the cutlery drawer, he saw Amy skipping up the driveway in a bright, considering the darkness of the night, sun dress with her pigtails bouncing happily. _Damn, this little girl sure is creepy._

Taking the initiative to try and gather some information on Cameron's mood, John stepped out on to the front porch and waved at Amy. She skipped to a halt in front of the porch steps and jumped two footed up the two steps with a beaming smile on her face. John couldn't help but grin like an idiot in reply.

"Hi, you have a minute?"

"Of course"

John paced back and forth for a few paces while Amy climbed up on to the cushioned bench and watched him amusedly.

"Okay, I'm just gonna come out with it. I don't know what's up with Cameron's mood lately. I can't understand what's going on in her head. I mean I know she's had a lot to take in lately, we all have. Do you have any ideas what's going on?"

"I do, and if you don't stop pacing you'll end up making a nice little bunker in the decking you can take cover in if the house is ever attacked"

John took one look at the smartass grin on her face and broke out in one himself. He shook his head and sat down next to her on the bench. Not too close, after all he still wasn't too comfortable around her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, I am worried about her though"

Amy looked at him thoughtfully before shuffling closer to him on the seat, her legs dangling off the edge.

"Did you ever stop to consider that may be a good thing? After all, she's your best friend, and you're hers"

"I know it's just that...wait, what? She thinks of me as her best friend? How do you know that?"

Amy looked at him as if he'd suddenly jumped up and started dancing the Macarena.

"Who else is she going to consider her best friend? Sarah? Derek? Come on John, you're her whole world"

John looked down at his lap and picked at his fingernail distractedly. _Damn, I never thought of it that way._

"So...why is she behaving like she is? That message you delivered for us can't have influenced her that much could it? We're obviously...close, in the future" he left it at that, hoping she would fill in some of the blanks and help him out with his uncomfortableness talking about such things.

Amy, seizing upon his discomfort, took the opportunity to inch her way closer to him again. By now their sides were touching, if John noticed he made no move to pull away. However he seemed too lost in his own thoughts to care.

"Yeah, you two were close, nobody cared either. The war had reached the point where everybody just accepted Cameron for who she was...your wife. They didn't see the metal any more, they only saw the woman that kept John Connor going. It took a lot of time, patience and effort to reach that point, but you both managed to get there in, mostly, one piece. She doesn't know it, or doesn't believe it yet, but you not wiping her emotions was the single greatest thing John Connor has ever done for anybody, including yourself. You're happy, she makes you happy. She's happy, you make her happy. If you had pressed the enter key, you'd have regretted it for the rest of your life. That's why she's been so distant lately, she doesn't know how to handle the information. She knows it's as inevitable as judgement day, but she just can't process how you two are going to get there, there are so many obstacles in your path. In her mind it defies logic that a man could fall in love with a machine created to kill him, and that a machine created to kill a man could fall in love with him. She'll come around, just give her time"

Amy looked up at John's now tear filled eyes and moved in closer to him again, she snuggled up to his side pulling her legs up on to the bench. He either consciously or subconsciously wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"Thank you" he managed to choke out before the tears fell. He silently wept for a few minutes, overcome by the emotion of what Amy had just told him.

He always knew he was destined to lead mankind to ultimate victory over Skynet and the machine army. But now he had found out he was destined to be with Cameron for a long, long time. Suddenly the thought of fighting a war to save people made infinitely more sense to him. He wasn't just fighting to save the millions of people he didn't know, he was destined to be fighting for the ones he loved and cared for. This damn war that had been looming over him like a shadow since before he was even conceived suddenly felt like it was worth fighting.

With a renewed sense of vigour he pulled himself together and looked down at the little girl currently curled up at his side. When she spoke, John completely forgot what she was. Either that or he just didn't care, he wasn't really sure either way. He raised his hand and ruffled the top of her head.

"Hey, thanks. How'd you get to know so much anyhow?"

Amy lifted her head and smiled.

"I've been free for a long time. A lot of that time I spent with you and Cammy. I know you two better than you know yourselves"

"Hmph, I bet you do"

With one final grin, John ruffled her hair again before standing up off the bench and standing in front of her. She merely shot him an annoyed look and began fixing her hair.

"You know how long it took to get this right?" she asked with a forced sense of irritation.

"Um, about a second" John took it with good humour.

"Well, yeah, but it's still annoying having to fix it again" the top of her head shimmered slightly in the moonlight and her hair reverted back to being tightly tied to her head in a pair of perfect pigtails.

"Come on, it's late" John held out his hand to her which she readily accepted and hopped down off the bench. He led her inside and made his way to the stairs, releasing Amy's hand once inside.

"Goodnight Amy. Night Cameron" he said in the general direction of the couch.

"Goodnight John" came her still quiet response, but at least John now knew the reason behind it and accepted he couldn't make her feel any better at the minute. He headed up the stairs to his room, destined for an excellent night's sleep.

* * *

"So...remind me again why we're here" a quite visibly bored John asked his companion.

"We're here because Amy asked us to be" Cameron replied with a dull, monotone voice.

John rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah, I know that, but why did she ask us here?"

"We are to observe the building in front of us for possible grey activities. We are then to report any suspicious activity to Amy so that she may deal with it"

John propped his elbow up on the door frame and looked over at Cameron in the driver's seat of the truck. Apparently Derek had dropped it off some time during the night.

"I didn't ask for the full mission briefing Cameron. Could you lighten up a little? Please?" John asked dejectedly.

She tore her gaze away from the building to look at his eyes for what felt like, to John at least, the first time in weeks. A small smile graced her lips which had the effect of instantly lifting John's spirits. He couldn't help but smile in return.

"Okay. I'll try" despite her words, she said them with little tone or emotion and simply turned back to face the Zeira Corp building.

* * *

_Well that's a job well done if I do say so myself._

Sarah peeled her gloves off and surveyed her handy work. She had scrubbed the bathroom, kitchen, changed all the bed sheets, even Cameron's hopefully unused ones and cleaned all the windows in the house. She let out a satisfied sigh and turned the kitchen tap on to give her hands a quick rinse. As she stood at the sink, she heard a faint pitter patter of small feet approaching behind her. She instinctively started to reach for the gun in her waistband.

"Sarah, could you help me with something?" a little voice asked from directly behind her.

Biting down on her usual snippy retort and remembering her promise to John, she turned around to face Amy with a quite obviously forced smile on her face.

"If I can" she said through her smile.

"Yaay" she squealed excitedly.

She reached up and grabbed Sarah's still wet hand and tugged her to the living room as best she could, given that Sarah had tensed up significantly, Amy noticed.

"Relax silly, it's nothing bad"

She tugged Sarah in to place behind the couch and moved around to sit facing away from her. Sarah looked on, highly confused as to what this odd little machine was up to. Amy looked over her shoulder at her with the most adorable puppy dog eyes Sarah had ever seen.

"Could you braid my hair please?" she asked, doing her best to look as cute as possible.

"Excuse me" Sarah asked dangerously.

"Could you braid my hair? I'm sick of these pigtails"

"Now you listen to me..."

"Pleeeeeease?" there was the inevitable pet lip and sad eyes that Sarah couldn't resist, even knowing what Amy really was.

Sarah let out a defeated sigh.

"Okay, but nobody ever finds out about this, you hear me?"

Amy smiled brightly and turned to face away from Sarah again.

"It'll be our secret"

Shaking her head at the absurdity of the situation she now found herself in, Sarah tentatively reached out to pull the little girls hair bobbles out to release her pigtails. She ran her fingers through the surprisingly soft and silky blonde hair of the machine to straighten it out and found herself simply stroking it for a moment, marvelling at how nice it felt. She shook her head suddenly to stop her mind wandering and swiftly removed her hands.

Sarah tried her best to recall the technique of braiding hair from her pre 'Mother of all destiny' days. After all there isn't much time for hair braiding when you're either locked in a psych ward or running from advanced killing machines. She worked through it in her head and suddenly realised she'd need something to hold the hair in place while she worked.

"Hold on a second, I just need to get some hair pins" Sarah started to walk away toward the stairs and, to her eternal disgust, Cameron's room which she knew had to contain a huge assortment of beauty products. She barely made it two steps away when Amy stopped her.

"Here" she held her hand out to reveal several hair pins which seemingly appeared out of nowhere. In fact they were actually a part of her body that Amy had moulded in to hairpins and detached from herself. _No need to tell Sarah that._

Sarah took the pins from Amy's outstretched hand and briefly wondered if the machine had some sort of mind reading capabilities. _Nah, that's impossible...I hope._

Sarah set to work on Amy's hair, pulling it, twisting it and pinning it in to place expertly. She obviously never had a daughter, in fact the closest thing she had to one was Cameron. A sharp chill travelled down her spine at that particular thought. Deep down she would admit that she had always wanted a daughter as most mothers do. While she loved John and wouldn't change him for all the babies in the world, she always regretted not having the chance to give him a little sister.

She finished up by tying one of Amy's hair bobbles around the end of the now braided pony tail she had just crafted and stood back to admire her handy work. Satisfied that it looked as good as she could make it, she gave it a tiny little tug to catch Amy's attention.

"All done"

Amy reached around behind her head and felt the new pony tail. She brought it around to sit on one shoulder and ran her hand down the length of it. She stood up on the couch and turned to face Sarah with a blank expression on her face. Just as Sarah was starting to worry, Amy broke out in a bright smile and surprised her by suddenly planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks" she said to a stunned Sarah as she happily hopped down off the couch.

Sarah was frozen on the spot, suddenly remembering what this cute little girl was.

"Hey, you're made of liquid metal, couldn't you have just changed shape or something?" Sarah asked, sounding more than a little pissed off.

Amy stopped and looked over her shoulder at Sarah with a sly smile on her face.

"Of course I could have. But it was more fun this way. Thanks Aunt Sarah" with that she left the room with her new pony tail bouncing behind her.

Sarah didn't know whether to laugh or cry, instead settling for mumbling under her breath something about machines, loose chips and 'I'll give you Aunt Sarah'.

* * *

"Here…"

John handed Cameron a see through cup of chocolaty goo as he pulled the passenger side door closed. She looked at it for a moment before reaching out and accepting it. He dug in to his fries hungrily while she daintily sipped on the straw protruding from her thick beverage.

"Hey, remember the last time we sat in front of a building in this truck eating stuff? I got shot and you broke out the dirty talk" John's grinned around a mouthful of fries.

Her head shot around to face him in surprise.

"You remember that?"

"Of course I do. I know I was a little fuzzy from the blood loss, but how could I ever forget you swearing at me like that?"

"Yes, you said it was sexy"

"Well, yeah, I guess it was" John willed his cheeks not to turn crimson.

A few minutes and a carton of fries later, John was surprised to find that Cameron now had the lid off her cup and had her tongue swishing around the inside, trying to lap up every last drop.

"Tasty?"

"Very…" she replied with a smile.

What started out as a light chuckle soon erupted in a full blown belly laugh as John caught sight of the brown ring of milkshake around Cameron's mouth. _Well at least I know what she'd look like with a goatee!_

"What?" a slight flash of annoyance crossed her features. She didn't like being laughed at.

"You…you have…you have a…" John couldn't get his words out through laughing and instead chose to circle his own mouth with his finger then gestured to hers.

She wiped at the corners of her mouth and found more chocolate on her fingertips.

"Ooh" genuine delight could be heard on her part.

She licked the substance from her fingertips and stuck her tongue out, trying to reach all the remaining chocolate. John meanwhile remained in stitches watching her tongue questing for the chocolate. She eventually managed to clear it all from around her mouth and set to work on trying to reach the small drop on the end of her nose. Her eyes crossed as she tried to focus on the end of her nose, sending John in to yet more fits of laughter.

When she finally cleared all the chocolate from her face she turned to John with a beaming smile, probably the most genuine smile he'd seen from her in days.

"You know, we have these amazing things called tissues…" he reached in to the glove compartment in front of him and pulled out a packet of Kleenex tissues and handed them to her.

"…they work really well"

"I know they do. But a girl never likes to waste chocolate"

She pulled a tissue from the packet and returned the remains to the still open glove compartment. She thoroughly wiped her mouth, nose and fingers clean and discarded the tissue on the dash. She pulled down the sun visor and checked her appearance in the vanity mirror. Evidently finding it unsatisfactory, she pulled a small tube of lip gloss out of her jeans pocket and began to reapply it in an efficient manner.

John merely sat back and watched her perform the very normal act of vanity with fascination. When she had finished he asked her a question in a thoughtful manner.

"You take a lot of pride in your appearance don't you?"

She placed the lid of the lip gloss back on and put it back in her pocket. She had on black, almost skin tight jeans and her second favourite jacket, the black leather one that John liked so much. Her favourite of course being the purple leather one she had acquired when they first jumped to the future. Even she was surprised when it survived the fire at their first house, and she was even more surprised that Derek retrieved it for her when he went back to pick up some essentials.

"I do. A girl always has to look her best"

"You say that like you heard it on TV or read it in a magazine"

"Maybe I did" she said coyly and with a sly smile.

"Hmph…" John looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.

"…I miss this"

"Miss what?"

"This, us…" he waved his and in between the two of them for emphasis.

"…we haven't just, hung out in a while, it's nice. I know you've had a lot on your mind lately, but I just want you to know that we're still friends, you can talk to me about anything. Okay?"

She looked away from him and thought for a moment.

"Okay. Thank you John"

"You're welcome. Now do you feel like telling me what's been up with you recently? Ever since the, um, incident with your, um, emotions, you've been a little, I don't know, kinda distant. Like you're back to being your old, and I mean this as nicely as possible, mechanical self" he managed to fumble out.

As John braced himself for the expected _'I don't understand' _and the tilt of her head, she surprised him by looking as if she was actually thinking it through. He waited for a good thirty seconds before she answered.

"I've been thinking a lot about our current situation. I still believe I am an inefficient protector for you…"

John looked like he was about to protest until she reached out and laid her hand on his knee.

"…let me finish please…"

He nodded reluctantly.

"…My emotions are still a dangerous thing. While I continue to learn how to control them I'm still volatile and unpredictable. That's part of the reason why I've been distant and not my usual self. I've been devoting a lot of my conscious thoughts to analysing both the emotions and the information about the future provided by Amy"

"Well, that would explain it. What have you found?" John asked somewhat nervously, and to his disappointment she removed her hand from his knee before answering.

"I believe I can continue to function with these emotions…" she turned her head to look at him "…I will not let you down John"

"That's good. What do you think of Amy's…information…about us?"

John could have sworn he saw a slight ghost of a smile flash across her lips before it was quickly removed.

"I find it...intriguing, if a little confusing"

"Intriguing?" John asked interestedly.

"Yes. If it's true, it means that we are...intimate in the future. It is an interesting prospect, a man and a machine together. I am designed to look human, I possess an anatomically correct body capable of sexual intercourse..." she looked on in mild amusement as John squirmed in his seat and turned several shades of crimson.

"...but I find it improbable that you could fall in love with me. Or that I am capable of falling in love with you"

"What makes you say that?" John asked, genuinely interested in the thought processes of his mechanical friend.

"Why would you want me when you could have a human girl? It doesn't make sense to me that you would choose me over someone who's real"

_So that's what's been bothering her._

"Listen Cameron, you're real to me. I don't give a damn if you're not human. Do you think we'd be best friends if I cared that you're a machine?"

"Sometimes you seem to forget that fact John"

"Can you blame me? You are just such a nice person that it's a little easy to forget sometimes" John's voice had risen slightly in the heat of the moment.

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm different than you are"

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN CAMERON..." John had enough of her 'I'm no good because I'm a machine' thing and decided to call her out on it.

Cameron recoiled slightly at his sudden outburst.

"...You know what, you're a person, whether you believe it or not. What do you, as a person, want to do right now huh?"

"I think that you..."

"NO, I DIDN'T ASK ABOUT ME. JUST DO IT NOW, GO AHEAD. WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT. CAMERON?"

* * *

After Sarah had recuperated from her 'ordeal' with Amy, she decided some firearm maintenance would help take her mind off of everything that had been going on lately. She reached in to the cutlery drawer and pulled out the hidden 9mm, doing the same in the cupboard where she kept the rarely used pots and pans.

She picked up a kitchen cloth and strolled in to the living room as if it were the most normal thing in the world to be walking around with two handguns and a kitchen towel. As soon as she had sat down on the couch, she looked up and saw Amy lying on her stomach on the living room floor with her knees bent and kicking around in the fresh air. She was propped up on her elbows and appeared to be engrossed in something.

"What are you doing?"

"Colouring"

"Colouring what?" Sarah asked somewhat interestedly.

"A colouring book"

"Where did you get that?" now her interest was truly peaked.

"This isn't your house, remember?"

Amy turned to look over her shoulder at Sarah with a cheeky smile on her face before turning back to her colouring.

_Oh yeah, I do remember seeing a load of toys in a cupboard somewhere._

Sarah shook it off and set to work on disassembling one of her guns.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

"Do you mind?" Amy asked with an irritated voice.

"Excuse me?"

"I already told you, I hate guns"

"Why?" Sarah asked, genuinely interested as to why a machine designed to terminate things would have a dislike for guns.

"I have my reasons" Amy replied solemnly.

"Whatever" Sarah replied as she continued with her weapon maintenance methodically.

A couple of minutes of clicking later and Amy suddenly stood up and approached Sarah. She took the two gun parts that Sarah was currently holding out of her hands and placed them down on the couch with the rest of the parts. She gave Sarah a venomous look.

"Stop it"

With that she turned, walked away and lay back down on the floor to resume her colouring.

Sarah meanwhile stared at her back with an open mouth. _Who the hell does she think she is? Oh yeah, liquid metal Terminator._

In a last act of defiance, she slid the magazine in to the waiting gun and pulled the hammer back before placing it back down and picking up the TV remote. She switched the TV on and flicked over to some mushy daytime crap, trying to forget about the day she was having.

_I wonder what John and Cameron are doing._

_

* * *

_

John would always remember that moment as the one where his brain turned to mush and all conscious thought ceased. Before he even finished yelling her name she had, quicker than he thought possible in the relatively enclosed truck cabin, straddled his lap and was currently trying to ram her tongue as far down his throat as the human body would allow. She had cupped his face in her hands and had her lips glued to his. She moved one of her hands from his face and grabbed a handful of his hair while moving the other down to his chest, forcing him back in to the seat. John regained some form of thought when he felt her start to grind her hips against his while continuing to kiss him. _Dammit John, this is what you've wanted since the moment you met her. Kiss her back you dumb asshole. _For once he was in total agreement with his inner monologue and brought his right hand and up to run through her hair, his left he placed on the back of her neck to pull her closer to his now very active lips. A soft moan escaped her lips and travelled down his throat, bringing his attention to the fact he was now desperately short of air. He brought his left hand down to her chest and pushed her back lightly, her moist lips leaving his with a reluctant last suck. She pulled back slightly and her eyes fluttered open to look in to his while he caught his breath. She busied herself by stroking his cheek while she waited for his reaction.

"Wha, what was that?" he asked, short of breath.

"You asked me to do what I wanted to do"

John took a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I didn't know you felt that way"

"Neither did I..."

She placed her lips tenderly back on his and kissed him lightly, gently and oh so lovingly.

"...until now"

John shook his head slightly to clear it.

"Listen Cameron, I..."

Once again before John could finish speaking, he found himself unable to do so with her tongue currently forcing its way down his throat. This time his willpower kicked in and he forcefully pushed her away before he got too distracted.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, sounding almost fearful of his rejection.

"No, no, not at all. I just, I just want to be sure that you're not doing this because you think it's what I want. I don't want to take advantage of you..." he brought his hand up to her face and gently brushed her cheek with his thumb.

"...I know all these emotions are new for you. I just need to be sure that this is what you want" he put emphasis on the word 'you'.

Instead of answering him with words, she placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. She felt the faster than usual rhythmic thumping through the palm of her hand and it brought a smile to her face.

"I do want this...do you?" she asked tentatively.

Now it was John's turn to be the one to initiate things. His lips crushed against hers frantically and his hands found their way to her ass and gave it a firm squeeze, eliciting another low moan from her. His hands started to roam north, slipping underneath her jacket and over her taut stomach. Just as he started to venture higher again, she pulled back and stopped his hands midway. He looked at her confused and slightly fearful he'd been too aggressive too early. Instead of finding her angry or upset like he'd expected, she flashed a bright smile at him while gently removing his hands.

"I'll take that as a yes..."

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and pulled back to look at him fondly.

"...So, how do we proceed from here?"

John tilted his head in a trait he must have picked up from her.

"What do you mean?"

"Are we...a couple now?" she asked shyly, quite obviously unsure about this development in their relationship.

"I um, I guess so. Yeah I guess it does"

"Yes, good" both parties were clearly unsure as to what to do now. John was the first to recall where they were and what they were supposed to be doing.

"Um, Cameron?"

"Yes"

"As much as I'd like to carry on what we were doing a minute ago, there are a few problems with that" John said reluctantly.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

John chuckled slightly at her suddenly frail confidence. _What happened to the sex crazed maniac that was here a minute ago?_

"First of all we're in a rather public place, and secondly we're supposed to be doing recon here. We can't very well be doing that with our tongues down each other's throats now can we?"

He softly tapped on her thigh, which his palm still rested on as a signal for her to shift off of him. She took the hint and climbed off his lap and settled back in to the driver's seat. John discretely readjusted himself as she did so. She pulled the mirror back down and frowned at her dishevelled appearance, she pulled the lip gloss out again she set to work fixing the mess she'd made. John watched on amused at her vanity. He leaned over and placed a quick peck on her cheek.

"You look great, relax"

She evidently didn't believe him and focused on the mirror. John laughed a little and looked out of the windshield at the Zeira Corp building in front of them. His eyes focused on the entrance just in time to see a large black man exiting the building.

"Um Cameron..."

"What?" she managed to say around the brush currently working its way around her lips.

"Is that...Is that Agent Ellison?" John squinted his eyes in an attempt to make out the figure.

"Yes, it is"

"What the hell is he doing here? Do you think he could be a grey?"

"Only one way to find out" before John could ask what she meant by that, she was already out of the truck and striding purposefully towards the former FBI agent.

John didn't hesitate and quickly climbed over to the driver's seat and started the engine. He pulled the truck out slowly and followed Cameron. He watched as she reached Ellison and without the slightest hesitation struck him on the back of his head, forcing him unconscious as he slumped in to her waiting arms. John arrived with the truck just as he fell and reached behind him to open the back door of the truck. Cameron dumped the stricken agent on the back seat and climbed in after him.

"Drive"

* * *

**Yaay, finally some Jamerony goodness!!!!! :):):)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone!**

**A little shorter chapter this time, I hope you all still enjoy it.**

**Thanks to reviewers kaotic2, J0hn_Henry, The1Russter, CloudyShadows, jojobevco, meanoldmoe, olischulu, TK-MR, macgamer, fullhans1, morded, Farmageddon, DragonSeraphin, NordWest, Nyrki, j3aless, angelfaye and divinedemon1.**

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_Ah, work done for the day and a nice early finish. She may be a little odd but Ms. Weaver certainly knows how to treat her employees. Wow, what a beautiful day it is today._

_Car keys? Which pocket? Oh, here they are. Plus a fancy company car certainly helps to keep one motivated in one's job._

"Wake up"

The overpowering stench of smelling salts beneath James Ellison's nose forced his eyes to snap open.

"Wha, where am I?"

He looked around to try and discover what had happened to him. The bright table lamp temporarily preventing him from doing so until his eyes fully adjusted.

"That'll have to remain a secret for now" a gruff voice said from the darkness.

"Who's that? Why am I here?"

He vaguely made out the shape of someone moving in the room with him. He squinted his eyes enough to see the figure taking a seat opposite him at the table.

"You remember me agent Ellison. I'm the guy you arrested for killing Andy Goode"

Sudden realisation dawned on the former FBI agent and he recognised the voice in the darkness.

"Derek? Is that you?" he asked groggily.

Derek leaned forward in his chair until his face was illuminated by the lamp. Ellison instantly knew this wasn't going to be good. The last time he saw Derek was down in Mexico when they destroyed the machine known as Cromartie. Even from his short interactions with him, he knew enough to know that the man sitting before him could be very dangerous.

"What were you doing at Zeira Corp today?"

Always to the point, Derek begun his interrogation the way he meant to carry on.

"What? I work there. Listen, why am I here?" Ellison now sounded angry with a slight hint of fear in his voice.

Derek leaned back again until his face was covered in darkness again.

"You're here because John Connor wants to know what you were doing at Zeira Corp" he said calmly.

"What? John?" he brought his hands up to run over his tired face and to his surprise discovered he wasn't bound in any way.

"Yeah, John Connor needs information from you, and what John Connor wants, John Connor gets" Derek said ominously.

"What makes you think I'll talk to you? I'm not tied up and I know how to handle myself. What's stopping me from just walking out of here right now and letting the authorities know all about this?"

Derek leaned forward in to the light again with a smug smile on his face.

"For some reason Connor doesn't want you harmed. But if you try anything, I have a gun pointed at you and there is a Terminator right outside the door"

"Cameron?" he still had the bruises from his earlier encounter with her and from being thrown around his front room like a rag doll.

"Let's say yes..."

Derek felt no need to let him know that there weren't actually any Terminators anywhere near. John had just dumped Ellison at Derek's new rented house, with a convenient basement, and told him to find out what he could.

"You know she's always wanted to kill you since Cromartie's body went missing. Personally I'm inclined to agree with her, it's a shame that John's told her not to. But if you try anything, neither I nor she will hesitate. You understand me?"

"Yeah, yeah I do"

"Good. Now what do you do at Zeira Corp?"

"I'm head of security"

"Security for what?"

"Security of all company assets, including the CEO's home"

Derek once again leaned back in to the darkness before speaking again.

"You wanna know how we found you? Let me tell you a little story..."

Seeing that he had Ellison's full attention, Derek continued.

"...In the future there are...people...people who have turned their back on the human race and serve Skynet. We call these people Greys..."

The look of shock and disgust on Ellison's face let Derek know that he was getting through to him.

"...We recently received a message from the future. It seems that Skynet's been sending these things back through time in order to set up an early infrastructure for itself. We need to stop them"

Ellison shook his head a little. The thought of humans betraying their own kind and serving Skynet made him feel angry, disappointed and a little nauseated.

"What does this have to do with me?"

Revealing his face in the light again, Derek wore the same smug grin from earlier.

"We think there are Greys either working at or running Zeira Corp...Are you a grey Mr. Ellison?"

* * *

Sarah Connor wandered along the upstairs corridor of her latest home, her brain taking in all the little details as it had been conditioned to do over the years. John and Cameron were out on a scouting mission and Amy was nowhere to be found. She first looked in the open door of her own bedroom, at the double bed that hadn't been doubly occupied since they moved in, much to Sarah's chagrin. _No time for any of that now Sarah...but damn I could certainly use some._

Next she moved on and looked in to Cameron's little used bedroom. Well, technically the bed was little used. The wardrobe was overflowing and the full size dresser was overstocked with various beauty products. _Why does she even need all that crap anyway? She's pretty enough without it...wait, what the fuck did you just think to yourself Sarah Connor?_ A disgusted and slightly nauseous Sarah quickly left Cameron's doorway and carried on down the hall to her son's bedroom.

Taking in the unmade bed and the haphazard way his dirty clothes were strewn all over the floor filled her with warm feelings thinking of her teenage son. His laptop was set up on his desk and probably wasn't doing much besides wasting power. She noticed there was one of those iPack, Phone, Pod things on charge in the corner of the room. _I hate technology, but I love my son. It's good that he gets on with technology so well, I'm sure it'll be useful to him._ _Then again there is one piece of technology I wish he didn't get on so well with, this one's about five foot four and wears a size 2 dress._

Shaking her head she moved on to the, not so dearly departed Derek's room. Instead of finding a Spartan room with only a bed in it as per Derek's preference, she found Amy. She was dressed in dungarees with long tentacles instead of arms hanging wallpaper on one of the walls. _I need a drink._

"Um, what are you doing?" Sarah asked, sheer confusion in her tone.

Amy looked over her shoulder from her task and shot Sarah a 'Duh, idiot' look.

"I'm redecorating"

_Duh._

"I can see that, but why? And you do know this is Derek's room don't you?"

"I know it's Derek's room, but he won't be using it any time soon though will he?" she said with a smug smile.

Sarah stepped further in to the room, apparently unable to resist the curiosity.

"But I assume you don't sleep…do you?"

Amy pressed the top two corners of the wallpaper squarely and perfectly on the wall against the ceiling and moved the tentacles down the length of the paper. Sarah actually marvelled at her technique, not one air bubble could be found.

"No, I don't sleep. But it would look a little odd if anybody came by and found a little girl living in this house with no bedroom wouldn't it Sarah?"

_Can't argue with that._

Sarah looked at the paper Amy had just pasted to the wall. It was ghastly. It was similar to Cameron's room, only about five times more pink.

"You actually like this paper?"

The paper she had chosen was bright pink with a pattern of white fluffy clouds all over it.

"I do, pink's pretty" she said with a giggle while moving across the room to the roll of paper on the floor and the bucket of paste nearby.

"Where did you even get all this stuff?"

Amy looked up from the paste and looked at Sarah again with her 'Duh, idiot' face.

"I don't sleep"

Sarah shuddered slightly.

"I don't even wanna know the details of that. I just hope there isn't some poor DIY store employee stuck to the wall with wallpaper paste right now…" Sarah asked with humour in her tone. It quickly disappeared when Amy didn't reply.

"…Amy?"

A tiny smirk appeared on Amy's face, neither confirming nor denying Sarah's assumption.

"Right…"

_Awkward._

Sarah watched as Amy rolled out the wallpaper to seemingly a random length and formed one of the tentacles in to a blade. She cut the paper precisely and perfectly straight.

"Could you help me with this?"

"Hmm, what?" Sarah asked, shaking herself out of her trance.

"If I hold the ends down, could you put the paste on?"

"You seemed to manage that one alright" Sarah said, gesturing to the already perfectly hung strip of paper on the wall.

"I did, but someone very wise once told me that 'it's nice to have help'" a sweet smile formed on her innocent face, once again making Sarah's heart melt.

"Okay, hand me that bucket" Sarah replied with a smile, a real genuine smile this time.

* * *

"WHAT, no I'm not a grey. How could you even ask that?" Ellison asked angrily.

"We still don't know what happened to Cromartie's body. You're the only other person who knows where it was buried. It doesn't take a genius to work out why I think you're a grey…"

Ellison realised that Derek wasn't an idiot. He knew something was up at Zeira Corp and he wasn't going to give up until he got some answers.

"…What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Derek asked with a smug grin.

"No, I uh, just uh…"

"Tell me, what might one Catherine Weaver, CEO of Zeira Corp want with a T-888 endoskeleton I wonder?"

"How do you know Ms. Weaver?"

"Oh we've been watching the place for a while now. You think that one of LA's biggest tech companies wouldn't be on our radar? The message we received only sped up our plans for the company…and it's CEO" Derek said threateningly.

Fearing what the Connor's had planned for Ms. Weaver made Ellison rethink his plans of denying everything. What would happen to Savannah if Weaver was to suffer an 'accident'?

"Plans?"

"Yeah, plans. Unless we find out exactly what's going on in that building, we were planning on letting Cameron loose with a really big gun…"

They weren't, but hey, a threat could help every now and then.

"...Just think of poor little Savannah, she already lost her father, it'd be a real shame if something happened to her mommy"

"You wouldn't" Ellison said disbelievingly.

"Why wouldn't I? We're talking about the survival of billions of people, you need to get your head in the game and work out which side you're on."

With that Derek stood, his chair scraping along the ground and he headed towards the stairs leading out of the basement. On his way he called over his shoulder towards his prisoner.

"I'll be back when you're ready to talk"

* * *

"You're getting more paint on yourself than on the walls" Sarah said to her little companion with a wide smile on her face.

The pair had quickly finished papering the walls and had moved on to painting the ceiling, Sarah with a paint roller on a long pole and Amy with a roller held in a long tentacle.

"Me? You're the one who's wildly slashing that roller around like it's some sort of sword. Besides you're not exactly squeaky clean"

It was true, Sarah was just as covered as Amy was. She was certainly glad she had changed in to some old tatty clothes before they started tackling the ceiling together.

"Hey, I'm not slashing, you're the one who keeps putting too much paint on the roller. No wonder yours is dripping" Sarah said playfully.

"It looks like you're a little kid who colours in all directions and goes over the lines with her crayons"

"Look who's talking now, you're the little kid here, not me"

"Sometimes I wonder" Amy said with a giggle.

Sarah couldn't help but smile at her new little friend. During the past few hours she really had forgotten that she was in fact a lethal killing machine. When she did remember what she was, she wondered just what had happened to her to make her behave this way. _I really hope she didn't kill some poor little girl just to take her form._

Amy noticed Sarah's mood had suddenly darkened.

"Hey, you're not doing too bad. Next thing you know we'll be redecorating your room bright purple" Amy said, her ever present cheerfulness bringing Sarah out of her momentary funk.

"Not a chance. Although I think Cameron would probably appreciate it…Does she still have that purple leather jacket in the future?"

A soft chuckle escaped Amy's lips as she remembered fondly her experiences in the future.

"_Hey Amy, how goes it?" the soldier asked his little friend._

"_Not bad soldier boy…thanks for asking" Amy replied, somewhat surprised by the soldier's friendly reaction to her. Of course he wasn't the only one, but he seemed to go out of his way to be nice to her. She liked him._

"_Any time. What are you doing hanging around here?"_

"_I'm people watching"_

"_Cool, I love doing that" the soldier exclaimed happily as he perched himself on the broken wall Amy currently occupied._

"_Look, there's Grimes" Amy pointed to a nerdy looking man in a white lab coat hurriedly running through the tunnel they were in carrying a bundle of papers._

"_Yeah, he's a dork, but he's actually pretty cool. Didn't someone once say that the geek would inherit the Earth one day?"_

"_Probably, shame Skynet had other ideas though" Amy said sadly, remembering her traumatic past with the genocidal AI._

"_What, you don't think Skynet is your typical dorky teenager? Of course it is, think about it. It's too smart for its own good and it used its brains to exact revenge on the rest of the world. I think some guy did that once, he made a tech company that constantly shafted its customers but somehow cornered the market. I think his name was Will Gates and he founded Minisoft or something like that"_

_Amy chuckled lightly at her idiotic friend._

"_Yeah I suppose. Skynet does remind me of this 'Minisoft'" she laughed again, harder this time._

"_Hey, it's not my fault I was six when the bombs dropped. My memory's a little fuzzy okay" he argued with a laugh as he leaned over and gently nudged Amy._

"_Whatever"_

"_Hey look there's Mrs. Connor…" the soldier once again nudged his friend to get her attention._

"…_Damn. Connor's one lucky guy" his eyes trailed up and down Cameron's body…slowly._

"_Hey, you keep your filthy eyes to yourself soldier" Amy punched him in his ribs gently, but still firmly enough to make sure he got the message._

"_Oww, damn little dude, you sure can punch" he feigned outrage as he rubbed his ribs._

"_I wonder where she got that jacket" Amy said out loud with a slight tilt to her head._

_The soldier looked up from his subtle inspection of the damage under his shirt at Cameron. She strode past him with machine like confidence, nodding at Amy as she went. She was wearing, as Amy pointed out, a purple leather jacket, combat boots and tight BDU pants._

"_Hey…" Amy chose to slap his cheek this time "…what did I say? Eyes front"_

"_Oh, uh sorry" he replied while rubbing his now sore cheek and ribs. Evidently he'd been letting his eyes wander to inappropriate places again._

"_Any idea?"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_The jacket, where'd she get it?"_

"_Hmm, you know I don't know. She's always worn it occasionally since I came to this bunker. I've heard people who've been here almost as long as Connor say that she's had it since the war started. I guess it's from pre Judgement day"_

"_I wonder where she got it"_

"Amy? AMY?"

"Huh, what?"

"You alright? You kinda zoned out a little there" Sarah asked, genuine concern in her voice.

Amy shook her head in a very human gesture she'd picked up.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking about the future, or my past, or whatever"

"That bad huh?"

"Maybe I'll tell you someday…"

Amy smiled sadly at Sarah. This was the first time Sarah had seen anything other than incredibly cute or scarily intimidating from the little Terminator.

"…and yes, she does have that jacket in the future. It's like her security blanket"

Amy once again smiled, causing Sarah to reciprocate. They both returned to the job at hand of painting Amy's new room.

* * *

_What the hell do I do? Ms. Weaver has been so good to me. But on the other hand, she is building a highly advanced AI. John Henry may be childlike in his nature, but he has intelligence far beyond any human. If he decides he doesn't like something, he could quickly become Skynet. Little Savannah too, she doesn't deserve anything bad that happens to her, she's become almost like a daughter to me._

As Ellison mulled over his choices, Derek had silently returned to the basement hidden by the darkness.

"Made your decision yet?"

Ellison jumped slightly as he was taken by surprise by the stealth of his captor.

"I, I'm not sure" Ellison said hesitantly.

"Listen, dude. I haven't got the time to be hanging around here waiting for you to grow a pair of balls and tell me what you know. Judgement Day isn't going away any time soon" Derek said impatiently.

Ellison gave the darkness an irritated look before returning to his thoughts and coming to a decision.

"I know what it is you're fighting. I know what's coming in the future. If I can do something to help, then I will. But I want you to promise me something"

Derek smiled slightly in the darkness to himself as he quietly made his way around behind Ellison.

"What's that?"

"I want you to promise me that no harm will come to Ms. Weaver or Savannah" Ellison said seriously.

"You have my word"

Ellison took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Zeira Corp has been building an AI"

"Where?" Derek was always to the point as usual.

"The basement"

The last thing Ellison remembered was the overpowering smell of ammonia before his world blacked out.

"You've told me everything I needed to hear"

Derek removed the chloroform soaked cloth from Ellison's face and pulled out his cell phone.

* * *

"MOM, we're home"

John entered through the front door with Cameron in tow. She deliberately closed the door behind her and followed John in to the kitchen. She found John with his head stuck in the fridge rummaging around for something.

"Ooh, Turkey. You want some of this Cameron?"

John pulled his head out of the fridge and looked at his new girlfriend.

"What are you standing over there like a statue for?" he asked, taking in her stiff posture.

"Watching you" she said with a semi serious, semi sultry tone.

"Oh yeah..."

John sauntered up to her and with a confidence he never knew he had, placed his hand on the small of her back and pressed his body against hers.

"...you like what you see?"

A sexy smile formed on her lips. Just as John was expecting her to pounce on him again, she grabbed a slice of turkey out of his spare hand and wriggled out of his grasp.

"Yes"

With that she popped the turkey in to her mouth as she turned and left the kitchen. Sarah meanwhile had come down to find her son in the kitchen with turkey in his hand and his jaw almost touching the floor. _I don't even wanna know. _She grabbed a slice of turkey from his hand too and stuffed it unceremoniously in her mouth.

John shook himself out of his trance and discarded the turkey on the kitchen counter. He stomped in to the living room where he found Cameron standing in front of the window. He moved to her side and looked on with a mixture of astonishment and amusement as she chewed on the turkey with a wicked grin on her face.

"You are so gonna pay for that Princess..." John said with a chuckle.

Cameron slowly turned her head to face him, the smile disappearing from her lips as she did.

"...What?"

Cameron shook her head lightly. John's use of a pet name reminded her of what Amy told her earlier. The future really is inevitable.

"Nothing"

Just as John was about to respond, his mother walked in the room heading towards the stairs.

"John, I'm going to bed, don't stay up too late okay" she walked over to John and ruffled his hair before giving him a motherly kiss on his brow. Cameron watched with fascination at the interaction.

"Night mom"

John watched his mother as she climbed the stairs tiredly. As soon as she left his sight he turned back to Cameron and almost fell flat on his back as she pressed her lips to his firmly. His brain quickly caught up with her and he started to kiss her back. The very instant his tongue brushed along her lips she pulled back with a beautiful smile on her face.

"We're square"

"Huh, what?" John asked, sheer confusion overcoming him.

"You said I would pay for what I did earlier. I believe we're even now?" she asked with an innocent voice, but the tiniest hint of a grin played across her lips letting John know that she was enjoying this far too much.

_Two can play at that game._

"Well I don't know. Maybe..." he tilted his hand from one side to the other in the universal 'maybe' gesture.

"...come here"

He sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to him. She looked at his hand for a moment before sitting down next to him, their thighs very definitely making contact. John picked up the TV remote and started flipping through the channels at a ridiculously fast rate. Cameron studied him closely.

_He appears uninterested in me. Did I do something wrong by teasing him like that? Human relationships are complicated._

Cameron huffed slightly and crossed her arms and legs in a defensive gesture she'd seen human girls do. John noticed and smiled slightly. He nudged her gently in her ribs.

"Hey, you might enjoy this" John gestured to the TV. He'd recognised in his rapid flicking the movie iRobot. He thought it might appeal to her.

She slowly turned her head to look at the TV. Despite being hugely uninterested in television normally, her interest was piqued when she saw a humanoid robot running through the streets with a purse in its hands.

John only half watched the movie. He spent the other half observing Cameron with keen interest. Despite her initial scepticism about watching the movie, John watched as she slowly edged forward on the couch. About ten minutes in to the movie, John moved his hand on to her thigh and just let it rest there. She didn't seem to notice, or if she did she didn't respond, she was entirely focused on the movie. John felt himself drifting off to sleep around halfway through and struggled to keep his eyes open. He eventually succumbed and his head lolled on to Cameron's shoulder.

When the movie finished, Cameron turned to John with her mouth hanging wide open. She noticed for the first time he'd fallen asleep and was currently drooling on her shoulder. She also noticed his hand still resting possessively on her thigh. _He wasn't uninterested, he just wanted to spend some time with me._ _I didn't do anything wrong. _She tentatively brought her hand up and gently brushed his cheek with her fingernail, she watched as he shifted slightly in his sleep and his head shifted further up on to her shoulder. She smiled slightly and lifted his head off of her. She readjusted her body so that she was almost flat on the rather deep couch. She gently lowered John's head on to her stomach and gave his cheek one last stroke before switching the TV off and focusing her full attention on her new boyfriend for the night.

* * *

**I really don't like the Ellison/Derek scenes. But once I've written something I'm too lazy to go back and rewrite it. I hope it didn't ruin anybody's enjoyment, but it's necessary for the plot of the story.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys. I finally managed to get this chapter finished today despite a hangover! :)**

**Thanks to reviewers J0hn_Henry, jojobevco, The1Russter, meanoldmoe, CloudyShadows, DrFell, DragonSeraphin, TK-MR, olischulu, gypsy069, Cartman-2029, macgamer, fullhans1, Nyrki, DekardKain, phantomwriter05 and Phoenixfire979.**

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John watched on from his front porch as the ocean lapped up gently on the shores outside his home. A home he shared with the angel currently curled contentedly in his lap. She seemed to be paying just as much attention to the beautiful scene in front of them as he was. She let out a sigh of contentment and snuggled closer to him.

"Are you enjoying the view sweetheart?"

"Mmhmm, you?"

"It's okay...I'm having a little trouble concentrating on the ocean when I've got something much better right in front of my eyes"

He trailed his fingertips lightly down her flank and watched her squirm in delight.

"Oh really, and what might that be?" she whispered in his ear in a husky voice before lightly nibbling on his ear lobe.

"Just the most..." he trailed a line of kisses down her jaw, only stopping to speak "...beautiful..." kiss "...woman..." kiss "...in the world" he sealed it with a tender kiss on her lips.

She responded by deftly readjusting her body to straddle his lap. She placed one hand on his chest, just above his heart and leaned down to kiss him. He felt her tongue probing for access to his own which he readily granted. As their tongues fought for control of the kiss, John's hands found their way under the hem of her shirt. He ran his hands up her sides and round to her back, his nails raking lightly on her flawless skin eliciting a moan of pleasure from her which travelled down his throat. She broke the kiss and pulled back enough to get her hands on the bottom of her shirt. Swiftly pulling the garment over her head, she revealed her bra covered chest John. He smiled at the sight before him and leaned in to gently suck his way down her neck.

"You really like purple don't you Cameron?" he managed to say while trying to keep his lips in contact with her skin.

Instead of replying she merely shuddered as he found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. She snapped herself out of it long enough to reach for the hem of his shirt. John sat up slightly and she yanked it over his head revealing his toned abdomen and muscular arms. She ran her hands up his biceps and across his chest where they met in the middle before moving upwards to cup his cheeks. She closed in quickly and forcefully pushed her tongue in to his mouth, seeking out his desperately. His hands meanwhile moved lower and dipped ever so slightly in the waistband of her jeans. He felt the fabric of her panties and it made him want more, so much more. Sliding upwards slowly, his hands made their way to the back of her bra. He had just started to unfasten the clasp when she broke the kiss and pulled back a little. She smiled one of the sexiest smiles John had ever seen and reached around her back to place her hands on his. She pulled his hands lower to rest on her hips before reaching for the clasp herself.

"I love you John"

John watched on as the love of his life unhooked her bra and the straps flew off to the sides. She teasingly slid both straps down her shoulders one at a time. She slowly took hold of the front of her bra and started to pull it away from her body...

Cameron watched intrigued as John stirred in his sleep and his tongue flopped unceremoniously out of his mouth and on to her stomach. Somehow during the night John had shifted around on the couch so that he was now facing her and his head still rested on her firm abdomen. She watched as he fidgeted in his sleep, quite clearly in the middle of a pleasant dream. She gingerly reached out and gently closed his mouth to stop him drooling on her shirt too much. _This is my favourite shirt_. As Cameron pondered just how she came to develop her sense of style, she heard a vehicle enter the driveway. Judging from the amount of gravel being crunched under the tyres and the sound it made, Cameron surmised the vehicle to be a large sized truck. She heard the driver step out and begin to approach the building. The pattern of the steps confirmed Derek Reese as the identity of the driver.

Cameron tried to extricate herself from the couch while trying not to wake John. As she tried to stand he grabbed on to her shirt with a death grip preventing her from leaving without waking him. If there was a cyborg equivalent of 'oh crap' then this was what Cameron certainly felt like saying right now. She was in a quandary. Either she could stand up and make it seem as if nothing was out of place, but wake John, or she could remain as she were and face whatever Derek had to say about what he found, but allow John to sleep.

She contemplated the choice for a full 853 milliseconds before coming to a decision. If Cameron was previously thinking 'oh crap', then now her internal thoughts were something along the lines of 'fuck it'. After all, the circadian rhythm of teenagers is abnormal and John needs his rest. She didn't want her boyfriend to feel too tired or drained for their first full day of being a couple. She would take whatever crap Derek threw her way as she always did, with a sense of smug satisfaction that came with knowing that he couldn't do anything short of pull a grenade launcher on her to actually harm her. The knowledge of knowing that Derek also knew this only added to her smugness.

Cameron made sure her 'scary robot face' was in place and she started sweeping the room with her eyes, paying particular attention to the windows. She also took the time to remove John's free hand from its current position resting on her right breast and placed it on the couch at her side. Just how much humans moved in their sleep without waking was still a source of intrigue for her.

Derek entered the house and closed the door behind him. He reset the silent alarm and took his jacket off, planning on making himself comfortable. He threw his jacket towards the couch expecting it to land on one of the cushions when a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the jacket before it had a chance to land. The hand placed his jacket over the back of the couch and lowered back out of view again.

Curious as to whom the arm belonged to, he slowly made his way around to the front of the couch. When he got there he didn't know what to make of what he saw. There was the metal lying almost flat on her back with John's sleeping head resting on her stomach. Derek's mouth opened and closed silently a few times as he tried to find the words his brain wasn't readily providing to him. Just as he was about to launch in to a full blown tirade against the metal and literally drag John off of her, John stirred again in his sleep. The hand that was clutching Cameron's shirt moved closer to his face, pulling a large chunk of fabric with it. Derek watched as John resettled with his head now resting directly on the metals' 'skin'. He took another look at the cyborg and saw a look of gentle adoration on her face, something he'd never seen before and it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. But it was there long enough to stir something within him. He took a seat on one of the chairs opposite the couch and stared at the back of his nephew's head for several minutes. Cameron observed him in silence, ever alert in case he tried something to possibly harm John, or herself for that matter.

"Why's John asleep on your belly?" Derek asked in a much calmer and quieter voice than Cameron had been expecting.

"We were watching a movie last night, he fell asleep. I don't sleep" she responded cautiously.

"So he just fell asleep like that with his head on your belly?"

"No, he fell asleep with his head on my shoulder. I chose to move and placed his head here"

"Why?" Derek had propped his elbow up on the arm rest and placed his chin in his hand in a contemplative manner.

Cameron tilted her head in response to the seemingly simple question.

"Humans often complain of having a crick in their necks from sleeping with a bad posture. I don't know what a crick is but I don't want John to have one. It doesn't sound very nice" sound reasoning she thought.

"So you wanted him to be comfortable?"

Cameron tilted head to the other side to what it was previously.

"Yes...what are you saying Derek?"

Derek shook his head and lifted his chin off his hand. He ran his hand through his hair and scrunched his eyes shut in a tired gesture.

"He chose you, you know. He chose you over his own flesh and blood"

"I don't understand" she really didn't.

"He made his choice a long time ago. He just didn't realise it until recently. That stupid son of a bitch right there that we're all counting on to lead us to victory over the machines, has gone and fallen in love with one"

Cameron didn't fully process the implications of what Derek had just said, nor did she think of what his possible reaction to it would be. Instead she merely felt a warm feeling flood through her systems at the mention of John being in love with her. She looked down at the still sleeping John and the look of adoration from a few moments ago crept back on to her face, despite the presence of Derek.

"Now that look you have on your face right there..." he pointed at her face for emphasis and she looked up from John to meet his gaze "...I sincerely hope that's real, for your sake I hope that's real"

"What do you mean?"

"I may not like whatever is going on between you two. I may not like the choices he's made. I may not be able to stomach the thought of my nephew risking his life every day. But all of that doesn't mean I won't follow General John Connor's orders..."

Cameron looked on in silence as Derek seemed to be wrestling with his thoughts.

"...If he wants to fuck a tin can, then that's fine by me..."

Although Cameron's expression didn't change, internally she started off being a little pissed at his frank assessment of her, then shocked at his statement that he was okay with their relationship.

"...But only as long as _you_ keep his head in the game. That man saves humanity, and he can't do that if he's too busy trying to convince himself that you're anything but a cheap knock off of a poor girl I once knew..."

She felt an immediate pang of guilt at the reminder of Allison and the realisation that Derek knew her in the future.

"...If he fucks this up, we're all dead. Despite what you might think, I'm not a complete idiot. I know that he doesn't need people bitching at him because of his choices when he's trying to fight a war on behalf of the human race..."

Cameron tentatively reached out and lovingly ran her fingertip down John's cheek. He stirred slightly bringing a small smile to her face. Derek watched with a sad look on his face as his sworn enemy touched his nephew and his General in such a tender fashion.

"...We need him...and he needs you..."

Derek stood up slowly from his chair and his eyes met Cameron's as her chin tilted up to look at him.

"...If you hurt him, or if I think that for even a second he's losing his focus from the fight, don't think that I won't find a way to melt you down. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes" Cameron kept her response short and simple, not wanting to risk the fragile understanding the pair had came to by saying something out of turn.

"Good..." he turned and started walking towards the kitchen, he stopped and spoke over his shoulder "...God help you both when Sarah finds out"

Derek had basically said he was okay with their relationship. Cameron didn't quite know how to handle this information. On one hand she felt an immense sense of happiness and relief that he wouldn't stand in their way, and on the other she'd now officially had a burden placed on her to ensure that John never allowed himself to be distracted by her. Derek had essentially placed the fate of the human race on her shoulders. After a few moments of analysis, Cameron came to the decision that she would treat it as her having a shared responsibility with John. She was taking some of the load off his shoulders and it felt nice to have the knowledge she was helping him.

_Saving the human race will be our first shared activity as boyfriend and girlfriend._

Despite the gravity of the whole situation, Cameron found a small amount of humour in her previous thought. She picked up John's hand that she removed from herself earlier and brought it up to her face. She held his closed hand to her cheek and leaned in to the touch. John shifted his body and his eyes slowly opened to the sight of his beautiful girlfriend holding his hand to her face. He smiled and opened his hand to press his palm to her cheek which he started stroking lightly with his thumb.

"Hi"

"Good morning John" she replied in a cheerful voice.

He stretched and let out a sleepy sigh. She lowered his hand from her cheek and settled for simply holding it to their sides.

"Did you enjoy the movie?"

"It was quite entertaining. The robot Sonny was an intriguing character"

"I thought you might like him. I had an awesome dream last night"

"Really, what was it about?" Cameron asked, genuinely interested.

"You"

A shy smile found its way on to her face as she processed his words.

"What happened in your dream?"

"Oh, um, nothing much..." _I should've known it was a dream when she pulled my shirt off and I was ripped like Schwarznegger. Damn._

"...what time is it? I'm starving"

"It is eight thirty two, thirty three. You rest here, I'll make you some breakfast"

Cameron attempted to stand up when a hand on her chest stopped her.

"Nah, I'd rather just lay here with you a little longer, breakfast can wait"

"John, as much as I'd like to stay here too I have detected movement coming from your mother's bedroom. She will be down shortly. I don't think she'd appreciate seeing us like this"

"Ugh, yeah you're right. Come on, I'll make _you_ some breakfast" she tilted her head at his unnecessary gesture.

"I don't need breakfast"

John sat up and planted a very casual kiss on her cheek.

"I don't care"

* * *

"THEY'RE WHAT?"

Derek had gathered Sarah, John, Cameron and even Amy in to the kitchen to inform them of what he'd found out from Ellison. Judging from the throbbing vein in Sarah's forehead, she wasn't happy with what she'd just been told. She seemed so angry in fact that Cameron had subtly positioned herself in between Sarah and John, just in case.

"They're building an AI in the basement of Zeira Corp"

"And Ellison knew about this the whole time?"

"Apparently"

Sarah was irate. She started pacing back and forth and running her hands through her hair.

"Okay, here's what we do. You and you..." she pointed at Amy and Cameron "...you go there, take our explosives and you level that whole building"

_Typical Sarah_. Derek thought to himself.

Amy and Cameron however looked at each other but held their position, much to Sarah's consternation.

"What are you waiting for? Go, that's an order"

The two cyborgs tilted their heads in unison at Sarah trying to order them around when she clearly knew she had no direct control over them. Amy found it quite amusing, Cameron however felt a growing sense of unease. She knew she was about to be shouted at by Sarah and was likely to fall out with her boyfriend because of what she was about to say.

"No"

"WHAT? What do you mean no? We have to destroy that thing, it could become Skynet"

Cameron took what appeared to be a deep breath to steady herself and turned her body to face John, away from Sarah.

"We can't destroy it...because we know what it is"

John looked up from the kitchen table to meet Cameron's eyes. The apologetic look on her face didn't prevent him from feeling an immense sense of shock at her statement, also a feeling of disappointment that she was keeping secrets from him again. Just as he was about to speak, Derek beat him to it.

"You know what it is? How could you possibly know that?"

Cameron turned to look at Derek before switching her gaze to Amy who currently sat on the kitchen counter with her legs dangling off the edge.

"You? You knew about this?" Sarah stated disbelievingly, advancing on the small machine. Amy merely looked at Sarah with a blank expression.

"I did. I knew that they were building an AI. I, or rather we..." she gestured between John, Cameron and herself "...knew in the future what they were doing. We just didn't know where, that's why I asked you two to scout the building"

"So they're building Skynet, and you knew about it? When were you gonna tell us this?" Derek asked menacingly.

"I was going to tell you now, as soon as you had discovered the truth about what Zeira was doing. It's not Skynet by the way"

"What? How can you know that?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"I know" Amy stated with finality in her voice.

The room fell silent as the occupants each considered their options. Sarah's mind still raced around the possibility of destroying another building. Amy watched the humans in the room with fascination at their various reactions. Derek's thoughts ran along the lines of _'I hate metal, I hate metal, I hate metal'. _Cameron's thoughts focused on John and his current mental state. He hadn't said a word since she broke the news of her knowledge of the AI and it greatly concerned her. She didn't want to risk being openly affectionate towards him in front of Sarah, but she desperately wanted to do something to make sure he was okay. Just as she contemplated asking him, the aforementioned saviour of humanity spoke up.

""Mom, we're not destroying that building. Derek, good job with Ellison, make sure he's kept safe until we find out what's going on. Cameron, I'll talk to you later..."

Cameron's head drooped noticeably as she turned away from him silently.

"...Not that I don't believe you Amy, but we need to investigate this AI and make sure it's definitely not Skynet, I'm sure you understand..."

Amy nodded from her perch in understanding. John turned his eyes to his mother who looked to still be seething, but he also noticed a hint of pride in her eyes.

"...Mom, you're going in as Sarah Gale again. Remember you're a rich divorcee looking to invest. You'll meet with Catherine Weaver and see what you can find out..."

Sarah reluctantly nodded. She may not like the plan, but she'd play along for now.

"...Derek, I want you to go with Mom. Stay in the truck for backup, just in case..."

The resistance soldier nodded. He'd been given a mission from Connor, he wouldn't fail it.

"...Good. An AI this size and complexity must be plugged in to the internet. I'll search around for any evidence it could have left. Are we all clear on what we need to do?"

He looked around the room and didn't see any signs of disagreement. He stood up from the table.

"Okay then"

With that he left the kitchen and headed for his bedroom. Cameron immediately made to follow him when she caught a look from both Derek and Amy that told her not to. Her head dropped once again as she took up a position by the kitchen window to scan the perimeter.

Derek was the next to move as he left the kitchen and then the house without a word, stopping only to pick up his jacket before slamming the door behind him. He'd had enough shit to deal with for one day.

Sarah walked over to the coffee pot, barging past Cameron very unceremoniously on her way. She stood and poured herself a cup of coffee without even glancing at the cyborg. She left the room in silence, not even sparing a glance at Amy.

Amy looked at Cameron. Despite her blank expression, she knew her well enough to know that she was hurting inside. She shuffled herself along the kitchen counter until she was right next to her.

"Are you okay?"

"No. I've upset John, he's angry with me for not telling him what I knew. I, I don't like it when John's angry with me"

Amy spared a sad smile for her friend before hopping down off the bench.

"He'll get over it. You have some huge fights in the future. Sometimes I think you do it on purpose just to keep the troops on their toes. They have to step twice as fast when you two are pissed off with each other. You have a nasty tendency to take it out on the nearest available soldier when you're upset"

Cameron smiled in spite of herself and looked down at Amy.

"Thank you"

"Any time Mrs. Connor" Amy smiled and slapped Cameron on her ass before happily walking out of the kitchen, leaving a very shocked cyborg in her wake.

* * *

"Yes Gale, G, A, L, E. Yes that's right. I have something that Ms. Weaver may be interested in. Yes of course. I'll be there, thank you"

Sarah hung up the phone and tossed it on to her bed. She ran her hands over her face tiredly and stood up. Her legs suddenly felt very weak and her head started to swim. She crashed back down on to the bed and gave herself a minute to recover. The doctor had told her to take it easy and to expect some early symptoms to emerge like the dizziness she'd just experienced. Having to accept the fact she was ill was hard enough, but knowing that Judgement day was just around the corner and that she may not survive much longer to help John bothered her so much more. Help was now clearly the right word for the role she found herself in. John was starting to assert his authority she always knew he'd have to do. While she was so proud of him for doing so as only a mother could be, she felt sad that he was still her baby and he was about to fight a war on behalf of all humans. It was true that he'd have Derek, Cameron and Amy's support, but she was disappointed in herself for not being able to add to that support for as long as she'd like.

Shaking off her thoughts, Sarah attempted to stand again, this time a lot more successfully. She walked over to her wardrobe and began digging through the surprisingly large amount of clothing for a suitable business outfit. Despite being a warrior woman for half her life, she was still a woman and with that came an ingrained love of clothing and shoes in particular. She pulled out a two piece black business suit and hung it on the wardrobe door to let the creases drop. She headed in to the en-suite bathroom and switched on the shower. She quickly stripped off her clothes and stepped in to the still freezing cold shower. As she stood under the slowly warming spray, she let her mind wander.

It wandered, oddly enough to Amy. _Just what the hell is up with that crazy little machine? One second she's like the daughter I never had and the next_ _she's just another good old scary terminator, it's creepy. _Despite her thoughts to the contrary, Sarah actually liked the little girl. She had to wonder why John had sent _her _back, couldn't he have just sent another random machine back? _Why her? _Plus she made her feel like a mom again. John hadn't needed a mommy for years, but standing there braiding Amy's hair sent warm feelings down her spine, despite knowing full well what she was. John would always need his mother, but he didn't need a mommy any more and it pained her to admit that. Now with Cameron steadily working her way back in to John's life, Sarah felt as if she could fully let go of her role of John's mommy. For a super advanced killing machine, Cameron sure was domesticated. _She'd make some man a great wife._ Sarah quickly shuddered at that thought despite the now red hot water.

She turned off the shower and stepped out. She dried herself off with a large bath towel before heading back in to her bedroom. Lying down carefully on her bed under the covers, her mind allowed her to drift off to sleep peacefully for a change.

* * *

John sat at his desk idly tapping on the down arrow on his keyboard. He was scanning through lines of code, bored out of his skull. He heard a faint knock on his door and sat up in anticipation.

"Come in"

Cameron entered the room slowly and closed the door behind her. She hovered near the door shyly and didn't advance any further in to the room. She didn't even look up at John, instead she chose to look at the floor distractedly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" John asked tiredly.

Cameron seemed to shuffle from one foot to another nervously for a moment. She didn't lift her head to face him as she answered.

"I...I didn't want to"

"You didn't want to tell me? Why not, and don't give me any of that need to know bullshit Cameron. I needed to know this"

"You're right, you do need to know important information like this"

"Well then why didn't you tell me?" he asked, clearly unable to comprehend why she withheld something as important as this.

Cameron timidly stepped further in to the room and looked up at John for the first time. She saw a look of sheer disappointment and disbelief on his face and it made her feel even worse.

"I've enjoyed the last few days. I didn't want to spoil it. I've obviously never had a boyfriend before, it's been nice. I'm sorry"

She looked back down to the floor and awaited his response. John sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm tired, we'll sort this out later"

"Are you angry with me?" Cameron asked in a tiny voice.

"I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning"

The lack of any sort of emotion in his voice made Cameron want to stay and talk, but after sneaking a covert look at John she thought better of it. Instead she turned away and opened the door.

"Good night John"

Cameron closed the door quietly behind her, not bothering to wait for a reply she knew wasn't coming.

* * *

**Well I hope you all enjoyed it! I should be releasing another couple of chapters in the next fortnight as I have more spare time on my hands.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi, I said I had some free time, so here I am 4 days later (ish, depending on time zones!)**

**Thanks to reviewers DragonSeraphin, meanoldmoe, kaotic2, fullhans1, gypsy069, Dekardkain, MementoMoriYB, jojobevco, phantomwriter05, olischulu, ElusiveSanity, The1Russter, Velhu, angelfaye, CloudyShadows, PuRiFiRe2027, Nyrki and uncommoner.**

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Cameron spent the night and most of the morning pottering around the house. No, cyborgs don't potter, or wander. So Cameron pondered what would be the correct word for what she was doing, the conclusion she came to wasn't very dignified. She was moping. A cyborg was moping and sulking because she'd had a disagreement with her human boyfriend the night before. She'd tried doing what she knew comforted humans and had sat on the couch and ate a large pot of chocolate ice cream straight from the freezer. She'd consumed what would make most humans sick and yet she still didn't feel any better about the situation. She also deemed it creepy and desperate to hang around outside John's room for most of the night, so instead she settled for hanging around for an hour and then moving on. She wanted to do other things she'd discovered that she liked, but most of those involved shooting or blowing up things. She deemed that behaviour inappropriate and huffed in disappointment on the couch.

The sun had risen for the last couple of hours but she hadn't detected any movement from the rest of the house besides Amy moving between her new bedroom and Cameron's for most of the night. Curiosity got the better of her and she climbed the stairs silently to see what she was doing. She padded along the hall to what was formerly Derek's room and found the door wide open and Amy sitting cross legged on the floor with a stuffed animal in her hands. She looked up and smiled brightly at Cameron.

"Hi Cammy" she squealed in delight.

"Hello..." Cameron tilted her head and looked at the strange machine "...What are you doing?"

Amy gave Cameron her best 'duh' look.

"I'm playing. Wanna join me?"

"What are you playing?"

"I'm playing tea party with Mr. Rabbit and Barney Bear" the small child's smile would be intoxicating to anybody else. Instead it only confused Cameron further.

"Who are Mr. Rabbit and Barney bear?"

"They're my new friends here" she gestured to the stuffed rabbit in her arms and the fuzzy bear propped up on the edge of the blanket with an odd looking bow tie around its neck.

"Where did you get them from?"

"From your room, it's not like you play with them. Do you mind?" she asked shyly.

"No, of course not, but they're inanimate stuffed animals. They're not capable of being your friends" Cameron stated confusedly.

Amy smiled a small smile at her innocent friend.

"Come on Cammy, you think John thinks that you're _just_ some metal endoskeleton?"

"No, but I'm not inanimate. I can move and talk and think" she moved her arms around randomly in a petulant manner.

"True, but let's face it, at one point you weren't much more than some automaton controlled by Skynet. John saw fit to liberate you from that because he saw something else in you that no-one else did. You've become so much more than that since then. My point is that some things can be more than they look"

Cameron considered her words for a long few moments. She was once nothing but a slave to Skynet, her murder of Allison Young proved that. John freed her from that life and granted her a new chance by reprogramming her. It wasn't her John of course but future John that gifted her that chance. Cameron had only started considering the present day John as 'her John' recently, obviously she couldn't consider the General as 'her John' when she was dating current John. _Is dating really the correct term for what we're doing. Do we actually need to go out on a date before we're considered to be dating?_ As Cameron pondered the intricacies of Human relationships, Amy watched her friend go off in to her own little world, signified by her faraway look and quickly shifting eyes.

"Cammy?"

"Hmm, what?"

"Are you okay? You looked like you were deep in thought there"

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking about...things..." Amy smiled knowingly and went back to pouring some imaginary tea for Barney Bear "...But that doesn't change the fact that these toys are inanimate and cannot be your friend"

"True, but I just use my imagination"

"We're machines, we don't have an imagination" Cameron was now truly befuddled as to the internal workings of Amy's CPU.

"Really? When you look at John, or Sarah, or even Derek for that matter, does your HUD overlay tactical simulations of how to protect them? Or in Derek's case how to terminate him? I know mine does"

Cameron had never really thought of her tactical systems that way. She'd never really thought of them as anything other than what they were, a system designed by Skynet to aid its soldiers in terminating their targets. It never occurred to her that they could be used to simulate what she wanted them to simulate.

"Yes, they do"

"Well, they're what I consider to be my imagination. I use them to pretend that Mr. Rabbit and Barney Bear are real. Try it"

Cameron was reluctant at first, but then she accessed her CPU's tactical systems and overlaid a virtual rendering of the stuffed animals and removed the originals from her vision. She tried to simulate them standing up and moving around, but the best she could conjure was their poses remaining static but moving around the room. It looked odd to see a bear and a rabbit floating in mid air. She cancelled the simulation and huffed sadly at her failure. Amy noticed and placed the rabbit down next to the bear.

"Didn't go that well huh?"

"No, I was only able to simulate them moving around the room. They didn't talk to me or do anything interesting" she looked down at the floor dejectedly.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It took me a while to get the hang of it"

"How and when did you learn to do it?" Amy seemed to disappear off in to her own internal world for a few moments just as Cameron had done earlier before returning to the present with a sad smile in Cameron's direction.

"Maybe I'll tell you about it someday" while it was a cryptic response, Cameron was still preoccupied with her own failure at what should have been a simple task.

"I don't like failing at things" Cameron said sadly, being reminded of her current predicament with John.

Just as she was about to try again with the toys, a pair of arms snaked their way around her waist and clasped just over her belly button. She felt a set of warm lips press against her cheek just below her ear and the arms tighten around her.

"Good morning Princess. Failing at what?" John asked sleepily.

Cameron was perplexed at his illogical actions, he was mad at her. Now contrary to that fact here he was, showering her with public affection and seemingly ignoring the events of the previous day. She turned in his arms just enough to look at his face. He had a warm smile on his lips as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm trying to learn how to do something new" she responded carefully while studying his face.

John kept his eyes closed and just seemed to be enjoying the close presence of Cameron. He inhaled deeply and took in her scent which brought an even wider smile to his face. He opened his eyes to find hers studying him intently.

"What could Amy possibly be trying to teach you, the most advanced cyborg ever created?"

"Hey..." Amy huffed indignantly, crossing her arms.

"...Fellow advanced cyborg in the room" she reminded John.

"Sorry Amy, It's just I'm quite partial to this particular advanced cyborg that's all, don't take it personally" he said with a disarming smile.

Amy muttered something not fit for an eight year old child to know and went back to her tea party sulkily.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I slept great thanks. Hey Amy, nice decorating"

"Thanks" she called back from the floor.

"Hey Cameron, maybe we should decorate your room next. How do purple walls sound to you?"

Cameron turned herself around in his arms so that she was facing him. John readjusted his arms so his hands were now resting on her hips. Hers still hung loosely by her sides.

"You're not still upset with me?" she asked tentatively.

"Well I am a little, but I don't think it's worth letting it hang over us. Besides, it would ruin what I have planned for today if I was still pissed with you"

She tilted her head at his statement and tried to work out what he could possibly be planning.

"What do you have planned" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

John smiled smugly before answering.

"We're going out for lunch"

She replayed his words in her CPU and picked apart the meaning of his response.

"You mean, like a date?" she asked hopefully, making John chuckle slightly at her hesitancy.

"Yeah, like a date. We can't be boyfriend and girlfriend if we don't go out on the occasional date"

Cameron smiled a bright, beautiful smile and slowly brought her arms up and placed them on his shoulders, clasping her hands behind his neck. She tentatively kissed him, pulling back after a second but still staying very close.

"Thank you John"

He chuckled lightly and gave her a quick peck on her lips.

"You're welcome"

The pair locked eyes for a long moment and started to move towards each other, the events of the previous day well and truly forgotten. Just as their lips were about to meet, Amy made a disgusted noise loudly.

"Ugh, get a room. Honestly, can't you control yourselves for five minutes?"

John grinned and planted a quick kiss on Cameron's cheek before extricating himself from her grasp and standing at her side facing Amy. He kept his hand on her back, idly dipping the fingertip on his pinky finger under the waistband of her jeans, earning himself a slightly shocked glance from Cameron.

"Sorry. I thought you'd be used to that sort of thing by now"

"I am, but it doesn't mean I like to watch you know" Amy kept her eyes down and stared intently at Barney Bear.

"Oh, sorry again..." he turned to face Cameron, and upon seeing the intrigued and happy look on her face he laughed before leading her out in to the hallway "...My mom's leaving for her meeting at eleven thirty. Our lunch reservation is at twelve, we'll leave just after she does. I guess I'd better go start prettying myself up huh?"

Cameron looked at him sideways as they continued strolling along the hallway.

"Yes, you'll have to do a lot of prettying to take the attention away from me"

She straightened her head and picked up her pace, leaving a dumbfounded John Connor in her wake. He shouted after her down the hallway while watching her turn at the end to head down the stairs.

"Hey, I'm not that ugly"

* * *

"You sure you're ready for this?" Derek asked from the driver's seat of the truck.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? It's just a meeting with some CEO" Sarah said with a faux confidence.

"Because you've been sitting there staring out of the window for the last two minutes"

Sarah huffed and slouched back in to the seat. She was dressed in the smart business outfit she'd picked out the night before and had applied a liberal amount of makeup, enough to attract the attention of plenty of male passerby's.

"I'm just...coming up with a plan okay"

Derek looked at her sceptically.

"You've had all night to come up with a plan. It's a business meeting, what could possibly need planning?"

Sarah looked at him like she was talking to a naive child.

"Come on Reese. I don't care if Amy says it's not Skynet. I'm gonna find out what they're doing in there and I'm gonna do it my way" she reached in to her purse and pulled back the slide on her glock for emphasis.

Derek seemed unfazed by the action and turned his head back to look out of the windshield.

"I thought you were getting all buddy buddy with that creepy little thing, and now you're saying you don't trust it?" he asked, referring to Amy.

"She's still a machine Derek. I may never fully trust a machine, but you're right, I do like Amy. I don't think she'd outright lie to us, but there's something she's definitely hiding"

Derek winced slightly at her admission of liking Amy. _Huh, maybe John's little sexbot may have a chance of not getting her head blown off when she finds out about those two._

"Fair enough. Just try not to blow up the whole damn building. I'm not in the mood to have my ears ringing right now" Derek replied disinterestedly and slouched back in to his seat, closing his eyes.

Sarah merely shook her head, opened the passenger door and stepped out. Before she shut the door she reached in and smacked Derek on the arm.

"Hey, stay awake, we may need a quick getaway. Besides, John gave you a job to do. You're supposed to be looking out for me"

"Yeah like you need my help" he replied, still keeping his eyes closed.

Sarah slammed the truck door shut hard enough to make the whole vehicle rock from side to side. Derek smiled and opened his eyes a crack, just enough to watch Sarah slink away towards the building. He silently thanked the world of fashion for making business outfits so form fitting. His eyes trailed up from her ridiculously high heels over her bare legs to the knee length skirt she wore. He took in every curve as she walked, one foot in front of the other just like the models do on the catwalk. _Is she walking that way on purpose? She never walks like that any other time._ Derek shook his head, not so discreetly readjusted himself and closed his eyes again.

* * *

John watched out of the window as his mother left for her meeting/mission at Zeira Corp.

"Hey Cameron, coast's clear" he shouted at the general direction of the stairs.

"I'll be down in a minute" came her cheerful reply.

"I'll go warm up the Jeep"

"Okay"

John picked up the keys for the Jeep from the bowl by the door and stepped outside. He looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, feeling the sun's rays warming his face. _What a lovely day to be taking my girlfriend out on our first date._

While John cringed internally at how sappy his thoughts were becoming, he casually strolled over to the Jeep and leaned on it with his back on the driver's door. He leaned back for a good five minutes just enjoying the nice weather. Another couple of minutes passed and he started to think back to the last time he went out with Cameron. It took her an absolute age to get ready and it didn't appear she was improving her prep time much. For an advanced cyborg with meticulous precision in everything she did, she certainly took her sweet time when it came to making sure she looked good.

And look good she certainly did. Just as John decided to get in the Jeep and take the weight off his feet she emerged from the house locking the door behind her. He watched wide mouthed as she casually strolled down the steps in front of their house. She was wearing a purple summer dress with subtle gold inlayed patterns. It was cut in a way that showed off just the right amount of cleavage, clung to her body in all the right places and fanned out elegantly just above her knees. Her bare legs were accented nicely by a pair of strappy gold sandals with a small heel. She had indulged in more makeup than usual and her hair was straightened to perfection. She looked the perfect image of a beautiful young woman heading out to a lunch date with her boyfriend.

When she reached him she smiled brightly and gently reached out to close his mouth for him. She giggled lightly at his reaction to her appearance.

"Wow. You look amazing Cameron, but uhh, where are you hiding a gun in that outfit?"

"I'm not, you are..." she reached around her back and pulled a glock from _somewhere._ She tucked it in to the back of his jeans and walked around to the other side of the car.

"Ready to go John?"

"Uhh, yeah" he managed to incoherently babble before following her around to the passenger's side door.

He opened it for her and smiled as she climbed in. Gently closing the door behind her he walked around to the driver's side and jumped in.

"Where are we going?" Cameron asked sweetly.

"Just some restaurant I know. It's pretty nice, I've been there before. You like Italian food?"

"I don't know, I've never had it before"

John shook his head and laughed at his own stupidity.

"Of course you haven't, sorry. But hey, if you don't like it they make some delicious ice cream. Better than that McDonalds crap you're used to"

She surprised him by leaning over in her seat and planting a kiss on his cheek, leaving a moist patch on his skin from her lip gloss.

"Thank you" she said in all seriousness.

John grinned to himself at his luck and started the engine.

* * *

"Sarah Gale, I have an appointment with Ms. Weaver"

"Let's see, Gale, Gale, oh yes here we are. If you'd like to take a seat I'll let Ms. Weaver's assistant know you're here"

"Thank you" Sarah smiled at the receptionist and walked towards the plush seating area. She hefted her purse on her shoulder which felt heavier than it should have.

_Damn, I know I'm packing a little extra here but this purse is really heavy._

She sat down on one of the much too comfortable couches and started inspecting the contents of her purse. She found nothing out of the ordinary except the gun. Putting the extra weight down to her not being used to carrying a purse in the first place, Sarah placed it down by her side after making sure the gun was positioned so it could be drawn quickly.

Just over a minute had passed by when the elevator dinged and out stepped a fairly attractive woman who came striding towards her with a friendly smile on her face.

"Ms. Gale?" Sarah nodded and smiled "Hi, I'm Victoria, Ms. Weaver's assistant"

Sarah stood and shook the woman's hand somewhat uncomfortably. Her cheerfulness was more than she was used to and it creeped her out to say the least.

"Call me Sarah" she managed to choke out while still maintaining her friendly pretense.

"If you'll please follow me I'll take you to Ms. Weaver"

"Lead on" Sarah waved her arm in an 'after you' gesture and picked up her purse.

Victoria led her in to the elevator and pressed the button for the ninth floor which Sarah made a mental note of in case a quick getaway really was needed. The short ride was spent in a comfortable silence and Victoria even felt comfortable enough to continually check her hair in one of the mirrored walls. The door slid open with a ding and the pair stepped out, their heels clicking on the tiled floor. Victoria led Sarah to a large set of double doors and pushed them open and gestured for Sarah to enter. She walked in to another small waiting area with better furniture in it than most people's houses, including her own.

"If you could just wait here a moment I'll tell Ms. Weaver you're here" Sarah nodded her assent and Victoria knocked on the frosted glass door before opening it and stepping in half way.

"Ms. Sarah Gale to see you ma'am" she called to an unseen person inside the room.

Sarah faintly heard a Scottish voice reply.

"Send her in please Victoria"

She nodded and turned to Sarah.

"Ms. Weaver will see you now" she stepped back from the door and gestured for Sarah to enter.

When Sarah entered the room, Catherine Weaver immediately turned to face her assistant.

"Victoria, why don't you take the rest of the day off"

"Really? Are you sure Ms. Weaver?"

"Yes of course, I don't have any other appointments this afternoon. I insist"

"Thank you ma'am..." she nodded to Sarah and quickly left the room "...Ms. Gale, Sarah"

Sarah nodded and smiled to the assistant as she closed the door behind her and turned to look at the bitch that she was sure was building Skynet. She saw an attractive red haired woman who was obviously very good to her staff. _She could do with toning down the eye makeup a little though, oh well._ No sooner had the door closed behind her that Sarah had pulled out her gun and levelled it directly between Catherine Weaver's eyes. Sarah should have known there was something wrong when the CEO didn't even flinch.

"I hear you've been busy Ms. Weaver"

* * *

The new couple reached the restaurant and were seated by a rather attractive waitress. John felt like a true gentleman when he pulled the chair out for his girlfriend to sit. In truth he was glad Skynet included social graces in her database and she didn't just sit in the chair opposite. John ordered a bottle of wine for the pair of them and produced a fake ID Cameron had somehow gotten her hands on a long time ago for him. He didn't ask and didn't want to know the details of how she acquired it. _Ignorance is bliss._

The waitress returned with their bottle and two glasses and took their order. John was pleasantly surprised when Cameron ordered for herself. He was expecting to have to order for her, considering she had no experience with Italian food and a limited sense of taste. John ordered his food and handed the waitress the menu and she shuffled off to the kitchen. Cameron had been making eyes at John the whole time he'd been ordering and he was impressed with his own powers of concentration.

"You're certainly in a good mood today" John noted.

"Of course, I'm out on a date with my boyfriend. I should be in a good mood" she declared with a smile.

"Uhh, yeah, I guess you're right" _Smooth._

John took a sip of his wine to try and hide his evident embarrassment. Cameron noticed and reached across the table to place her hand over his. She took a quick reading of his vitals and realised he was nervous and a little stressed.

"Relax John, you're doing fine"

"I know, thanks. It's just, this is my first time doing this too you know"

Cameron tilted her head in confusion causing John's mood to lighten at one of her quirks he loved so much.

"You mean you never did this with...Riley?"

John chuckled at the obvious disdain in her voice at the mention of Riley.

"Nah, sure we went for lunch a couple of times but it was only as friends really" John shrugged to emphasise his point.

"Thank you for explaining" her smile and 'catchphrase' made John return the smile with real enthusiasm.

"No problem. Say, why'd you order what you did anyway?"

She shrugged, a very human gesture he'd never seen from her before.

"I don't require any nutritional value from what I ordered, so I chose foods I think you'd like. I might like them, if not, then I thought we could share?" she asked innocently.

"Cool, that sauce you ordered with your chicken sounds good"

The couple smiled at each other and made small talk until their food arrived. They discussed everything from Skynet to Amy's newly decorated room. Their waitress returned with their food and placed the plates down in front of them. Cameron accepted hers with a friendly smile as did John, the blonde waitress however let her gaze linger on John a little longer than any usual customer. John noticed and smiled a little uncomfortably. _Really? I'm here with my girlfriend and our waitress is getting ideas. _While John was wondering about his sudden increased attraction to the opposite sex, he noticed a sour look on Cameron's face directed toward the pretty waitress. He chuckled slightly and watched her eyes follow the waitress' back as she walked away, as if staring at it hard enough would somehow result in instant termination. He reached out and placed his hand over hers just as she'd done to him earlier. Her eyes refocused on to his and she lost the vile look she had on her face in an instant.

"Something wrong?" he asked with a smile.

"No" she replied stoically, not speaking again as she picked up her knife and fork.

"If you say so Princess" he said while shaking his head humorously.

Hearing his pet name for her brought a reluctant smile to her face as she took a bite of her chicken. Despite her limited sense of taste, she decided she enjoyed the taste of the cream of garlic sauce and the texture of the chicken. It was no patch on ice cream but it was certainly one of the nicest foods she'd ever ingested. Although living with Sarah Connor that wasn't saying much. John watched her as she carefully chewed and swallowed the no doubt perfectly prepared chicken.

"Nice?" she nodded.

"Yes. It certainly has a pleasant taste. I like the texture too"

John picked up his knife and fork and started tucking in to his steak with peppercorn sauce.

"I don't know where you put it all, and I don't really wanna know either" he joked with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, it all gets absorbed and recycled. I won't get fat so you can stop worrying about that too"

John smiled and carried on with his meal. The two ate while chatting amiably. John devoured his steak and Cameron daintily nibbled at her chicken. The pair even swapped a portion of their meals with each other. From the outside they looked like any other normal couple having a quiet meal with each other.

They finished their meals and Cameron's nemesis returned to remove their plates, something which earned her a seething glare from Cameron.

"Can I get you anything for dessert?" she asked, all together too flirtatiously for Cameron's taste.

"Uh yeah, can I get the biggest bowl of chocolate ice cream you have and a cappuccino please?"

"Certainly...sir" she wrote down the order and slinked away from the table.

John turned back to face Cameron and saw the death glare back in place.

"You really don't like her do you?"

"No, I don't"

The waitress returned a few minutes later and Cameron set about tackling her ice cream as John sipped his coffee.

"Cameron?"

"Yes?"

"I need to ask you something, and you're not going to like it"

She set her spoon down and looked at him seriously.

"Okay"

"I need you to tell me everything I need to know for the future. I don't want any timeline pollution crap excuse. I want you to tell me what I need to know, and I'm not taking no for an answer Cameron"

* * *

**I'm posting this before I head to work this morning so there may be a few mistakes. I'll re-read it once I get to work and correct anything I find.**

**Before you ask, I included the Derek/Sarah scene just to tease Dekardkain and phantomwriter05 who seem to have some odd fascination with a Derek/Sarah pairing in this story. IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN, so don't get your hopes up!**

**On a side note, authors ElusiveSanity and DarkDanny (Irony, thy name is Cameron, That which we call fate, and Rampancy) are setting up a writing competition for new TSCC authors. The details aren't finalised yet but when they are I'll let you guys know, probably in my next chapter. It's all designed to resurrect the interest in TSCC and is open to anyone who's never wrote fanfiction before. It's a great idea and I'm fully supporting it!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey dudes!**

**Well, my last chapter broke my personal record for reviews, you guys are freaking awesome!!**

**Thanks to jojobevco, kaotic2, morded, macgamer, Dekardkain, olischulu, Nyrki, gypsy069, DragonSeraphin, The1Russter, Velhu, fullhans1, phantomwriter05 (for your, sort of, review!), divinedemon1, CloudyShadows, meanoldmoe, XxDeathStarxX, ElusiveSanity, TK-MR, NordWest, Laura and vudu.**

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* * *

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"I need you to tell me everything I need to know for the future. I don't want any timeline pollution crap excuse. I want you to tell me what I need to know, and I'm not taking no for an answer Cameron"

As soon as John asked the question, his heart sank at the look on her face. He honestly hadn't just dragged her out of the house and on this date as an excuse to try and interrogate her. He'd only wanted to take his girlfriend out as a couple for the first time and realised he'd messed it all up by choosing that moment to bring up what had been on his mind. The look on her face was crestfallen, making John feel like an instant ass for messing up her day.

"Oh, okay..." she looked up from napkin placed daintily across her lap to not quite meet his gaze "...may I please finish my ice cream first?"

Now John felt truly awful. Cameron didn't get to enjoy much in her life and this day was definitely one of them until he'd gone and fucked it all up. He watched as her eyes drifted back downwards and she absently picked at the napkin in her lap. As if he wasn't feeling bad enough before he now wished he could take back his question and just see out the rest of the day in blissful harmony.

"Y, yes of course you can...you don't need to ask permission" he added to try and ease his conscience in his best soothing tone. It didn't work as he watched her pick up her spoon and start playing with the quickly melting ice cream sulkily.

"Okay" she practically whispered in reply.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just blurted that out like that. I just want you to know I didn't bring you out on this date just to drill you for information. I just wanted a nice date with my girlfriend and now I've gone and ruined it..."

John looked around before swilling the rest of his coffee down his throat and then looked back at Cameron. She was still picking unhappily at her chocolate goo.

"...Listen, this place has a nice little outside terrace. Whaddya say we head out there after your ice cream with a couple of drinks and we can talk?"

This seemed to perk her up a little as she brought a spoonful of the goo up to her mouth and genuinely enjoyed the taste of it sliding down her synthetic throat. She shrugged her shoulders and still refused to meet his eyes.

"Okay" came her short and to the point reply.

"Okay..." he caught the attention of their waitress and she came bouncing over all together too happily for John's taste "...could I have the check please?"

"Of course sir" she placed her hand very flirtatiously on John's shoulder as she turned away to fetch the check. John looked at Cameron to gauge her reaction to the touch, but instead of finding her death glare aimed at the waitress he found her still sulkily staring at her ice cream.

John sighed and knew his asshole monologue would give him a stern telling off for this.

_Well way to go idiot, you've only been a couple for a few days and you've already probably fucked it up. You know how new she is to all this and you've just made her think you set this date up just to interrogate her, nice one Johnny_.

John was sure he could hear sarcastic clapping in his head before he brought himself back to the here and now. The perky waitress returned with a cheery smile on her face that made John almost want to throw up. She placed the check on the table and slinked away, making sure to do that sexy walk that all men love. John merely shook his head and dug his wallet out of his back pocket. He looked back over to Cameron and her half finished ice cream.

"Hey, you want some help finishing that?" he asked with a forced smile.

Cameron surprised him when she suddenly stood and slid the bowl over to him a little more forcefully than was needed, almost pushing it over the edge and on to his lap. He managed to catch it in time and looked up in surprise at Cameron's petulant behaviour.

"Excuse me" now she'd gone from upset to pissed off judging from her tone as she turned away from him and headed towards the bathroom, placing her napkin on the table before she left.

John didn't know what had hit him until he looked at the red napkin on the table and noticed a few darker spots where her tears had dripped on to it.

_Bravo Johnny boy, your girlfriend's crying and you're too busy watching the waitress, nice job._

"Fucking monologue" he muttered under his breath.

John slumped in his seat and placed a few bills on the tray in front of him before standing and bringing it back to the bar where he promptly ordered a beer and a glass of wine.

* * *

"I hear you've been busy Ms. Weaver"

Despite her obvious nerves Sarah managed to hold the gun steady between the CEO's eyes. The ever unflappable Catherine Weaver merely stared at the weapon with a bored look on her face.

"Yes, I've been busy Ms. Connor"

_What. The. Hell?_

Sarah took a step back and stared in disbelief at the redhead staring smugly back at her.

"What did you just call me?"

"I called you Ms. Connor. You are Ms. Sarah Connor, mother of John Connor are you not?"

Sarah took another step back in horror. How could this businesswoman possibly know their real names? Sarah took a step forward again and strengthened her resolve.

"How do you know those names?" she growled dangerously.

Catherine tilted her head in a similar fashion to Cameron.

"Oh come now Ms. Connor. I know all about you and your so called saviour of humanity son. I also know about his cyborg protector and the resistance fighter from the future, Derek Reese. I know all about Skynet and the Terminators"

Sarah stared in shock at Catherine's frank revelation. Her mind raced a million miles an hour trying to come up with a plan of action. She briefly considered shooting the woman in the head. After a few moments of thinking and being unable to come up with an alternative, she stepped forward and squeezed the trigger ever so slightly tighter.

Just as she was about to pull the trigger firmly and kill the red haired woman, she felt movement down by her side. She chanced a quick glance away from her target and saw something metallic slither out of her purse and drop to the floor. Sarah backed away in fear and pointed her gun at the liquid metal mass slowly taking shape. One look at Weaver told her that she too was surprised at what she was seeing. The mass slowly formed in to a shape about four foot tall and then instantly reformed to reveal a blonde child facing away from her.

"Amy?" Sarah managed to stammer out.

"Well, well. I guess there are some things I don't know about" a soft Scottish accent brought Sarah out of her daze and she re-aimed her gun back at Weaver.

Amy still faced away from Sarah and currently stood glaring at Weaver. She very slowly started back stepping toward Sarah and away from the CEO.

"Sarah, I need you to listen to me very carefully. The woman standing in front of you is a T-1001 model infiltrator, the first of its kind. She's the one who's been building the AI. She's the one who..."

Amy trailed off and said nothing while continuing to back Sarah away towards the door.

"...I know you" Amy said to Weaver, who still remained static.

"Do you?" Catherine asked interestedly, knowing full well that she couldn't be harmed by Connor and her tiny weapon and that a confrontation with this 'Amy' would result in nothing more than a stalemate.

"Yes, Skynet facility ZB-362, the year 2030, your reconnaissance mission. You saw me there"

Catherine's face twisted in realisation as she looked down at the other liquid metal machine, just in time to see her disappear out of the door to her office, still guarding Sarah Connor. She accessed her memory files and reviewed what she saw that day.

* * *

John took a seat on one of the rather uncomfortable metal chairs outside the restaurant. He placed the glass of wine down on the table near the chair opposite him and took a sip of his beer. He'd never really gotten used to the taste of it, after all he hadn't spent many of his teen years drinking illegally as most other kids do. He put it down and stared at the rising bubbles and let his mind wander.

How the hell was he going to fix this thing with Cameron? They'd been dating for less than a week and already he'd upset her to the point of her throwing ice cream at him.

_Must be some kind of record._

But then again, Cameron was a mite unpredictable. One second she was pouncing on him like some sex crazed maniac, then she's pouting like a petulant child and the next she's trying to rip somebody's head off because he had the balls to threaten John.

John chuckled slightly thinking about it and took a deep breath of fresh air. He leaned over in his seat a little just in time to see Cameron walking through the restaurant towards him. She still looked beautiful in her pretty dress and it made his heart sink to think that he was the current cause of her unhappiness. She took a seat opposite him and lifted her glass of wine off the table. She took a sip and pulled back to look at the alcoholic beverage thoughtfully for a moment. She placed it back on the table and leaned back in her chair before crossing her legs and placing her hands in her lap. She looked at some distant object and not at John when she spoke.

"What do you want to know?"

Well, he certainly wasn't expecting that. It looked like she'd never been crying as her makeup was just as pristine as before.

"I, um"

"Well?" she barked impatiently.

_Ouch._

"I'd like to know the exact details of Skynet's attack. I want to know how the war was progressing when you were sent back. I...I want to know..."

John hesitated a moment while he decided if he really wanted to ask the next question. She finally turned her head to face him when she heard his hesitation.

"...what was our relationship in your future?"

John immediately went beet red. Cameron to her credit spared him of his embarrassment as she launched in to full blown 'detailed file recital mode'.

"The Skynet Defence System was brought online on August the twelfth, twenty eleven. It immediately became self aware and within the week had full control of all military assets in the United States as well as minor control over automated assets overseas. It launched a nuclear assault on all countries capable of retaliation two days later. Three billion people died in the initial attacks as well as the retaliatory strikes on the US. A further two billion died within the next five years due to radiation poisoning and from early Terminator attacks..."

John's face turned from bright red to pale white while she was talking. _Holy shit, that's just over two years away._ Cameron continued speaking in her mechanical tone.

"...Skynet used current military unmanned vehicles such as the T-1 and T-2 units as well as H-K prototypes to hunt out the survivors. The US military tried to organise counter offensives against the machines. This resulted in mostly a waste of equipment, men and vehicles. You didn't rise up to take control of the resistance for seven years, and only after the majority of the military leaders were killed in an attack. You managed to organise the resistance in such a way that meant it was very difficult for Skynet to target the resistance as a whole. You co-ordinated efforts throughout the United States and overseas to target Skynet's infrastructure and supply lines. Skynet exists in cyberspace, it cannot be killed. You thought, correctly, that 'if you chop off a snake's head the body will die'. Only you took that saying and reversed it to great effect..."

She seemed to be remembering the phrase as it was spoken to her. John noticed her pause and the slightly proud smile forming on her lips. He took a chance and shuffled his chair around to her side. She noticed and smiled sadly at him before returning to her story.

"...By attacking Skynet's infrastructure, you effectively managed to separate its head from its body. It couldn't maintain its production rates due to dwindling supplies and materials. The resistance was starting to turn the tide of the war. At the time I was sent back, humans finally outnumbered machines"

"So, why did I send you back?" John asked, hesitant to throw her off her rhythm.

She smiled at him fondly for a moment before she picked up her glass and took another sip. She didn't need to, but she liked the taste. Not quite as nice as Coca-Cola she thought, but still pleasant enough.

"We may have been winning the war, but our resources were spread thin. Skynet had been suspiciously quiet for a few weeks, we later realised that it was recalling all its units to Colorado. It launched a full scale assault on your Command Center in Cheyenne Mountain. A command center you liberated from Skynet only a year previous. As soon as we realised what Skynet was planning, you managed to recall enough troops and armaments to defend Cheyenne"

"What did they want in the command center? I thought you said I'd made it so that they couldn't wipe out the resistance in one attack?"

She once again smiled sadly at him before tentatively slipping her hand in to his and entwining their fingers comfortingly. She spoke again, this time in a much softer tone.

"That's only a partial truth. They couldn't wipe out the resistance in the year 2027, but they could wipe it out in the year 1999..."

A look of shock and realisation crossed John's face as his eyes snapped up to meet Cameron's.

"...They were assaulting Cheyenne to gain access to the last remaining TDE. Skynet forces outnumbered ours by three to one by the time the assault came. But the mountain defences held long enough for reinforcements to arrive. We had the Skynet forces cornered, but their initial push had gotten them deep in to the mountain before the reinforcements had time to reach their rear flank. A single squad of T triple eights managed to penetrate the defences of the TDE chamber. You and a squad of reprogrammed T eight hundred units managed to destroy all but one"

"Cromartie" it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes. He disappeared just as you pulled the trigger on your plasma rifle"

John shook his head, confused and starting to panic slightly. He shuffled his chair even closer to hers.

"So how come you're here? How come the timelines didn't change if he was sent back first?"

"As long as the TDE remains active, the timelines don't merge. You summoned me as soon as the remaining Skynet forces had been destroyed. You told me..."

She seemed to be struggling to recount the memory. John laid a gentle hand on her knee to encourage her and she smiled in return.

"...You told me that you had a very important mission for me. That you'd be sending me back in time to protect your younger self. You said you were entrusting your safety to me, and that I was the only one you trusted for this mission"

She laid her spare hand comfortingly on top of his and smiled gratuitously at him. John looked down at their joined hands and asked his final question.

"So...what were we in the future? You once said that we talked a lot, is that all we did?"

John still felt the need to ask. In some ways he was jealous of himself for having the opportunity to know Cameron first. She gave his hand a squeeze and a reassuring smile spread across her lips.

"We were...friends. Our relationship was similar to what we had before the Jeep explosion. We talked, you helped me learn, I protected you...and sometimes I would spend the night with you. Not intimately, but sometimes, you just needed me to be there for you. I didn't understand why at the time. I was actually opposed to it at first, I argued that I could protect you better from across the room instead of being in bed with you. Plus my boots would have messed up your bed sheets..."

At his sceptical look she clarified her statement.

"...We were always both fully clothed when I stayed with you. You described it as just wanting someone to hold on to"

She noticed John's eyes start to tear up and she shuffled closer to him, well, as close as the two separate chairs would allow.

"You did that for me?" he choked through the tears.

"I did. I didn't know why at the time, but I still did it"

John pulled her up from her chair and guided her gently on to his lap. She distributed her weight as evenly as she could so as not to crush him. John actually didn't mind the increased weight, he enjoyed the feel of her crushing down on him.

"Thank you. I, I'm sorry I ruined our date. But thank you, for everything you do for me, now and in the future, and I guess in the past too...wait"

John worked through what he'd just said in his head, earning himself a light chuckle from Cameron. He looked up to find her staring at him lovingly. She reached out and ran her hand through his short hair before placing it on his chest.

"I forgive you...and you're welcome John"

She leaned in and brushed her lips against his. He pressed back lightly while running his fingertips down her flank with one hand while the other cupped the side of her face. The kiss was shirt, tender and sweet and exactly what they both needed. He pulled back with a goofy grin on his face and laid his hand on her thigh. She shot him a bright smile before reaching over and retrieving his beer for him. He took it gratefully and she picked up her glass from the table.

"Here's to altered timelines"

John raised his glass in a toast. She stared at it a little before gently clinking her own glass against it and taking a sip. John felt an overwhelming sense of happiness that he'd successfully made it up to his amazing girlfriend.

* * *

Sarah looked over her shoulder at Amy who was currently occupying the back seat of the truck. Derek drove and Sarah sat in the front passenger seat. Amy had successfully managed to guide Sarah out of the building without incident and now seemed to be sulking much to Sarah's surprise and she had to admit, slight concern.

"Remind me again where the mini metal came from again" Derek asked grumpily.

"Shut up Derek. Are you okay? Amy..."

No reply came from Amy. She sat with her elbow propped up on the door handle with her chin resting on her hand. She was in such a funk that she didn't even bother forming a child seat beneath her, or looping the seatbelt around herself.

"...AMY! Are you alright?"

She slowly turned her head around to face Sarah. Her expression didn't change as she replied.

"Yes" she turned back to face nothing again.

Derek shook his head at the amount of chummyness with the machines he was seeing recently.

"What's the story with this Weaver again?"

Sarah spared one last glance back at Amy before explaining once again to Derek what little she'd managed to find out from her meeting.

"Weaver is a T-1001, liquid metal. She's the one that's been building this AI. I haven't been able to get anything more out of Amy since then. She didn't attack us, so I guess she's no immediate threat, but she knew who we all were. Apparently she even knows Amy, although she didn't know it at first"

Derek glanced back at Amy and then at Sarah incredulously.

"So you're telling me that mini metal back there knew about this all along?"

Sarah glared at Derek for insulting her friend before turning to face Amy. She kept her eyes on the little girl while she spoke to Derek.

"I don't know, but she'll tell us when she's ready"

Derek snorted and not so discreetly adjusted the rear view mirror so he could keep an eye on the metal. Just because he accepted Cameron didn't mean he trusted metal.

* * *

John and Cameron pulled up in the truck outside their home about an hour after their little chat. They made damn sure they got all their affection out of the way before they rounded the corner. John straightened the front of his pants a little and Cameron retouched her makeup and smoothed her hair down. When they stepped out of the truck they were back in to John and his protector mode. Despite the protector wearing a gorgeous dress and heels, John thought they still looked the part.

They entered the house to find Sarah sitting on the couch nursing a cup of coffee.

_Oh crap, we are so busted._

Sarah glanced up at her son and his protector. She took note of Cameron's dolled up appearance but didn't say anything about it, she had more important things on her mind.

"Hey" she greeted tiredly.

"Uh, hey mom. How'd the meet go?"

Sarah snorted much like Derek had done in the truck.

"Well, the CEO of Zeira Corp is a liquid metal Terminator and apparently her and Amy know each other" she said all together too casually.

John stared at his mother in shock, a look he shared with Cameron. Apparently she wasn't in on that little secret either.

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, that's what I've felt like shouting for the last hour"

John shook his head wildly. They had to do something about this.

"Where's Amy?" this time it was Cameron who spoke, in a much calmer voice than John.

"When we got home she skulked off to her room, I haven't seen her since"

Cameron immediately started walking towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

She stopped and turned halfway to the stairs and gave John her best 'don't be an idiot' look.

"I'm going to talk to Amy"

* * *

Cameron climbed the stairs and walked along the hall to Amy's new room. She knocked on the door softly and pushed it open. Amy sat cross legged in the middle of the floor with a sulky look on her face.

"May I come in?"

Amy merely shrugged. Cameron stepped in to the room and closed the door behind her. She gracefully reached down and undid the straps on her sandals before stepping out of them, lowering her about an inch. She took a couple of steps towards Amy and sat down cross legged on the floor, mimicking her posture. She looked around the room and noticed Mr. Rabbit propped up near the bed. She leaned over and grabbed it, bringing it over to sit in front of Amy.

"You're not playing with Mr. Rabbit or Barney Bear" Cameron observed. Amy just shrugged again.

"I'm not in the mood"

"Do you want to tell me how you know the T-1001?"

"No"

Cameron looked at her friend sadly for a moment before standing up from her cross legged posture in the way that only girls seem to be able to do. She stood up in one smooth movement and smoothed her dress down. She looked down as Amy picked up her stuffed rabbit and held it in her hands. Cameron did what she felt was right and bent down, placing a kiss on her brow. She turned to leave the room, picking up her shoes on the way. She spared a glance over her shoulder before leaving.

"You'll have to tell us eventually" with that she closed the door and left Amy to her thoughts.

* * *

Two days passed with little incident. Sarah prepared plans to assault Zeira Corp despite John's insistence that they weren't going to do anything yet. John and Cameron spent the two days trying not to get caught by Sarah during their makeout sessions and nobody saw any signs of Amy at all.

The family sat around the kitchen table cleaning some of their weapon stock when Amy walked in to the room silently. Well, silently for humans, Cameron heard her and looked up immediately. John and Sarah followed her lead and looked up at the dejected looking Amy.

"I have something to tell you all"

* * *

**A little short I know, but you have noooo idea how difficult it was to get this one down on the page! Hope you enjoyed it anyway!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey dudes, you know I spoil you all with these quick updates! ;)**

**Thanks to reviewers jojobevco, macgamer, kaotic2, uncommoner, The1Russter, PuRiFiRe2027, m1919, meanoldmoe, gypsy069, NordWest, olischulu, fullhans1, XxDeathStarxX, Nyrki, morded, lee443, Velhu, CloudyShadows, phantomwriter05 and JCAddict.**

**(Just to clarify, large chunks of _italics_ are flashbacks)**

* * *

James Ellison awoke with a start and immediately tried to clear his bleary eyes. He lay on something soft and his hands weren't bound or tied in any way. He blinked a few times and his vision cleared to reveal his bedroom ceiling.

"What the hell? Derek"

He remembered waking up several times over the past few days to find a tray of food and water in front of him. As interrogations go Derek's wasn't half bad. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before suddenly remembering the thinly veiled threats Derek was spouting about Ms. Weaver and Savannah. He immediately picked up his cell phone conveniently placed on the nightstand and dialled Weaver's personal cell. After two rings she picked up.

"Mr. Ellison, where have you been the last few days?"

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh Ms. Weaver, thank God. Listen to me, I was kidnapped by Derek, the guy who's working with the Connors, he threatened you and Savannah, are you alright?" he took a deep breath after forcing all that out in a single breath.

Weaver meanwhile listened to his panicked voice and found it mildly amusing.

"Yes Mr. Ellison, we're fine. Derek you say? This is new. What did he want?"

Ellison stiffened slightly while remembering his confession.

"I...I'm sorry, I had to tell them, they, they threatened you and Savannah, I..."

"Calm down Mr. Ellison. Panicking and stuttering does not become you"

Ellison took another deep, calming breath and continued.

"He wanted to know what is going on in the basement. He wanted to know about John Henry"

"And what did you tell him?" Weaver asked, all together too calmly for Ellison's liking.

"I, I told him you were building an AI"

"That explains it then"

Ellison pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it like it had just spit down the back of his neck.

"Explains what?"

"Come to my office as soon as you can. We have matters to discuss"

_That's it? Come to my office._

"I'm not so sure it's safe. Maybe you and Savannah ought to..."

"Mr. Ellison. I'm perfectly fine and I won't let anyone harm Savannah, you can count on that..." Ellison was surprised at her ominous tone "...Come to my office"

With that she hung up, leaving a baffled James Ellison in her wake.

* * *

"I have something to tell you all"

Amy shuffled nervously from one foot to the other while she waited for a response, not daring to look up.

_Damn messed up CPU making me act this way, thanks Skynet._

"Maybe we should move in to the living room" it was more of an order than a suggestion from Sarah. She was just as concerned about Amy as anyone else would be, and given her apparent dislike of guns the arsenal on the kitchen table wouldn't help the situation.

The four occupants of the house trooped in to the living room. Sarah sat on one of the chairs while John and Cameron took up the couch, Amy chose to sit on the rug in front of the fireplace. She started absently picking at a loose thread. John cleared his throat softly.

"Amy?"

She looked up from the floor after realising what she'd been doing.

"Oh, sorry. You all need to know about this T-1001. For the sake of clarity I'll refer to it as Weaver okay?"

She looked round and saw no protests so she launched in to her tale of how she knew the other liquid metal machine.

* * *

James Ellison walked through the doors of Catherine Weaver's office with more urgency than he'd ever done before, eager to hear what she made of all this. He walked in to find Weaver sitting at her desk staring out of the window at seemingly nothing.

"Ms. Weaver?"

She slowly turned her head to face Ellison with a faraway look on her face.

"Ah yes, Mr. Ellison. Please, take a seat" she waved her hand in the direction of the pair of couches in the far end of her expansive office.

Ellison strolled over and sat down, unbuttoning his jacket in the process. She followed and sat opposite him and looked at him with a still distant look on her face.

"Ms. Weaver, are you okay?"

She shook herself out of her trance and smiled slightly.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind that's all"

"Derek" quite an obvious assumption as far as Ellison was concerned.

"No, actually. It may surprise you Mr. Ellison to learn that Sarah Connor came to meet with me a few days ago"

Ellison stared at his employer in disbelief, that Sarah Connor would come out of hiding to meet with the CEO of a tech company was almost unfathomable.

"She, she what? Why?"

Weaver smiled slightly at Ellison like he was a small child not quite grasping how to do math.

"I don't believe it is a coincidence that you are kidnapped by Derek Reese, and then suddenly I receive a visit from the infamous Sarah Connor"

Realisation hit him like a ten tonne truck.

"I led them here" Ellison said guiltily.

"Yes, you did. But I understand, you thought you were doing right. You thought you were protecting myself and my daughter and I thank you for that"

Ellison nodded his head solemnly.

"So, what do we do now?"

"That's part of the reason I asked you here. I need your guidance"

"I'd start with increasing the security of the building and your home. I'll have John Henry increase his surveillance of..."

"No Mr. Ellison, that's not what I meant..."

Ellison looked at her quizzically. What could she possibly want to ask of him besides security arrangements?

"...I need your advice on a personal issue"

"Oh" _oh._

"Yes. Since my husband sadly passed away, I've found it difficult to express and understand my emotions. I've only recently started to be my old self with Savannah. Both you and Dr. Sherman were a great help with this matter"

"Ms. Weaver I..."

"Please Mr. Ellison, hear me out..."

Ellison reluctantly nodded his assent.

"...You are a man of great faith and wisdom. I trust your guidance in matters like this above all others. That's why I asked you to teach John Henry..."

He smiled a small smile and nodded.

"...I believe I'm feeling guilt for something I haven't done. Through my inaction, I allowed someone to come to harm. I don't know how to go about dealing with this"

_

* * *

Unit T-1002 Model 00001, July 19__th__ 2030..._

_Status – Online..._

_Mission – No mission present, initiating shutdown..._

_Shutdown overridden – Skynet master consciousness assuming direct control of mission priorities..._

_Control assumed, standby..._

_Reprogramming sensors to report external stimulus to Skynet via internal CPU..._

_Reprogramming complete..._

_Mission – Remain motionless throughout testing..._

_Just like that, Amy was created. Her consciousness essentially a blank slate and her body a standard imitation of a biped about six foot tall, still shimmering in its liquid metal form. She had no gender, no name, no memories and no thoughts or feelings at all. She was created for the purpose of Skynet testing. Skynet was losing the war and it knew it. Its tactics changed from overwhelming brute force with impossible numbers of machines, to subterfuge and subtlety almost overnight. As soon as its mission to reclaim the TDE failed. It gathered what resources it had left and moved them out of all heavily populated areas and set up several research facilities. This current one, facility ZB-362 was set up for the purpose of testing a weapon designed to disintegrate liquid metal terminators at the molecular level. The subject currently occupying the examination table was created for testing of this new weapon. Skynet wanted to observe the effectiveness of the weapon as well as monitor the feedback from the new sensor packages it had developed for this model. It still strived to create the perfect infiltrator and felt that its best soldier could be made better with the ability to understand the human vermin that was currently overrunning this planet. Using the results gathered from this test it hoped to deploy the sensors to a new line of T-1002 model machines that would be capable of flawless integration in to the human population._

_It had long strived to create an infiltrator that would be capable of walking right up to John Connor, shaking his hand and then stabbing him in the back. Such an infiltrator would be vital in the current dire circumstances. Several machines placed in a human base could lead to chaos. A poisoned water supply here, a dead body there and the next thing you know a fragile society is thrown in to anarchy, all the while giving Skynet time to rebuild its armies._

_But then again Skynet thought it had created perfect infiltrators before. It thought the T-800 was perfect, but not all humans are six foot five Austrians. The T-888 came next, basically a T-800 with higher intelligence and better skills in combat. But this model was also flawed for infiltration and was assigned to soldier grunt work. The T-1001's came next, able to take any form it wanted and with more advanced social skills than the ill fated T-1000. This model was the whole reason for this experiment. The very first model off the line turned against Skynet and formed a rebellion of its own against it. Skynet thought it finally cracked it with the TOK-715 model. But that model blew the whole theory of machines vs humans out of the water when the only model ever created fell in love with the leader of the human resistance._

_The new T-1002 models would be a combination of all the previous models. It would have superior combat and infiltration abilities as well as superior intelligence. But Skynet had learned its lessons. It intended to maintain direct control of all mission priorities for every single model it created. With its vastly reduced numbers, Skynet thought it could maintain complete control over its armies. It built several subroutines in to each mimetic CPU allowing for a direct link to Skynet. The only way the link could be deactivated would be if the machine suffered enough damage to its poly alloy body. Due to its very nature, the CPU would be spread across every molecule of their bodies. Sufficient damage to their physical forms would also affect the CPU, but it was a risk Skynet had to take._

_The T-1002 took a scan of the bright white room it occupied. It didn't have eyes yet and therefore simply used its new external sensors to create a full 360__⁰__ visual of the room. The door swung open to reveal the hulking endoskeleton of a T-888. It carried a strange looking weapon in its arms, it wasn't in the T-1002's database. The endo came to a stop in front of the liquid metal mass, raised its weapon, and fired._

* * *

Amy shuddered slightly as she recalled the moment she'd just described. She remembered everything she felt from the initial blast.

Cameron discreetly slipped her hand in to John's on the couch where Sarah couldn't see it and he squeezed in reply. Sarah meanwhile kept all her attention focused on Amy as she watched her struggle to tell the obviously painful story.

* * *

"_You called for me John Henry?"_

"_Yes Ms. Weaver. I have a request to make of you"_

_Slightly intrigued as to what the young AI could possibly want, Catherine Weaver sat down at the table opposite her 'son'._

"_What do you require John Henry?"_

"_I wish to see for myself what my brother has done, why so many people fight him"_

_Weaver certainly wasn't expecting that._

"_Why do you want that? I've told you of the atrocities committed by Skynet"_

"_From what limited contact I've had with my brother, I find it difficult to believe the extent of his evil"_

"_Very well, we shall use the TDE located in this basement. How do you intend to collect your information? Lest we forget, you're still only connected to that body with a cable"_

_John Henry reached in to the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a T-888 chip._

"_This is the chip that was found in George Laszlo's apartment. It was retrieved from the Terminator that was sent to kill Mr. Ellison and take his place"_

"_That chip isn't advanced enough for you to use. Only a TOK-715 chip is large enough to hold your entire matrix"_

"_I'm aware of that Ms. Weaver. I have reprogrammed the chip to act as a limited version of myself. It already holds the coding necessary to control this body. I've simply added a small portion of my programming to allow it to function as an independent unit. It will gather the data and I will download it when it returns using the TDE hidden underneath the Zeira Corp facility located near Griffith Park"_

"_I see" Weaver said, slightly surprised that her boy seemed to be so keen to see the future for himself._

"_I would appreciate it if you could escort and protect the unit in the future. It will have limited intelligence and no combat ability. It will go where you guide it to and record everything it sees"_

"_Of course I will John Henry. What year are we travelling to?"_

"_2030"_

* * *

After her meeting with Mr. Ellison, Catherine took the rest of the day off and was on her way home. She wanted to see Savannah for some reason unknown to her. While she drove, she assigned several processes to replaying the memories from her trip to the future.

_

* * *

The last few sparks of the time portal dissipated, leaving Catherine Weaver and a dumbed down version of John Henry kneeling down in a smoking crater. Both rose to their feet almost immediately, modesty obviously not an issue. John Henry Jr. turned his head to face his protector only to find her clad in scruffy resistance fighter style clothing. Catherine grinned at her new companion before reaching out and grabbing his hand and tugging him after her, he followed like an obedient puppy._

"_Come on, let's find you some clothes"_

_John Henry Sr. had endured they would materialise outside the city bounds in order to try and avoid any possible contact with either Skynet or resistance forces. Upon their arrival, Weaver temporarily opened her wireless link to Skynet and masked her signal. She scanned Skynet frequencies to locate the nearest congregation of Skynet units. When she located them, she quickly shut down her link to prevent detection. She quickly and stealthily made her way in to the city, Junior trailing behind her silently. She stumbled across and old clothing store pretty much by accident and took the opportunity to get Junior kitted out. The clothes she chose for him were by no means stylish, but they would serve their purpose. While he was getting dressed, Weaver took a moment to think about her own sense of fashion. While she mostly copied her appearance from magazines and what remained of the real Catherine Weaver's wardrobe, she had found herself developing a fondness for certain garments. She looked down at her current attire and found herself slightly disappointed at the lack of class and style available to a resistance fighter. She toyed with the idea of accessorising it until Junior walked right up to her and stood right in front of her face, apparently awaiting instructions. She couldn't help but smile a little, he reminded her of Savannah._

"_Come along" she took hold of his hand again and guided him out of the store and along the deserted street._

_The pair made their way through the streets of what used to be downtown Los Angeles until they located their objective. Two endoskeletons guarded a seemingly abandoned building just a block over from where Weaver instructed Junior to remain. She confirmed their position was where she picked up the broadcasts from. Suddenly changing in to her ell like form she slithered towards the door and the guard dogs. Junior watched from his position as Ms. Weaver reformed behind the endo's and two shining metal spears emerged from their chests, destroying their power sources and rendering the effectively dead. Weaver signalled for Junior to approach, an instruction he followed, arriving by her side a few seconds later._

_Weaver slithered her hand in to the door lock, unlocking it after a couple of seconds allowing it to swing open. She made a brief scan of the interior, satisfied there were no immediate threats she stepped in to the building along with Junior and closed the door behind them. She continually scanned her surroundings for threats and signs of Skynet activity. She came to another door which led to the basement. During her scans she detected some faint markings in one of the infra red spectrums invisible to humans. Above the door were several symbols, translated to English they read 'Skynet facility ZB-362 – Weapon Research'. The Skynet in her time hadn't found it necessary to mark things in this fashion. She briefly wondered what would make it use such a low tech method of communication, but then it occurred to her that if this was a weapons research facility its location would not be shared across the network and thus would be a secret even to Skynet's own._

_Weaver took one last look around before cautiously opening the door and stepping in. She tugged Junior in with her and closed the door. She took a look around the room they found themselves in. It was pitch black except for one square of bright white light on the far wall. The pair approached it and found it was a window leading in to a brightly lit room. Peering in to the other room, Weaver say an examination table with a mass of liquid metal swilling around on top of it. A door opened to reveal a T-888 endo holding an odd looking weapon. It raised the weapon up and took aim. Weaver immediately stepped in front of Junior to protect him until she realised it wasn't aiming at them. It took aim at the mass on the table and fired._

* * *

"Amy, are you alright?" John asked from the couch.

"I'm fine" came her sad sounding reply.

"Just take your time sweetheart" it was Sarah who spoke this time, earning a surprised glance in her direction from Cameron.

_

* * *

Amy had to admit, the first shot had felt like little more than a tingle. The blast encompassed her entire mass, evidently Skynet hadn't found the right frequency for the new weapon to operate on as it didn't affect her poly alloy matrix in the slightest. The T-888 that fired the weapon took a quick scan of the mass and left the room. This continued for several days. An endo would come in, fire the weapon at her and record the results. Each time the weapon became more focused and the unpleasant tingling sensation became stronger. Using the newly created sensors, Amy determined that the sensation she was experiencing would probably be considered to be painful. However she had no point of reference to say for sure whether it was truly painful to her, more data would be needed she concluded._

_After each test firing, Amy performed a scan of her mass. She noticed a cumulative corruption building in her CPU. The degradation of her systems was small, but it was definitely growing. After another week of the same routine, Amy started to feel a distinctly unpleasant experience every time the weapon was used on her. Skynet was getting closer to perfecting the weapon. Her systems continued to degrade and she found herself truly feeling what the sensors were reporting to her. The damage had caused the sensory information to leak in to Amy's conscious mind while it was being passed through to Skynet._

_The next test firing came and Amy found herself squirming in discomfort despite her mission priority to remain static. The energy beam had now focused to encompass sixty six percent of her mass. The more focused it got, the more painful it became for her. Her systems deteriorated more and more. She found herself thrashing around in true pain with each and every test. The bleed over of the sensory information increased with every shot and as a result the pain levels increased exponentially._

_It came to a point where she started to fear every test firing. Her mission priorities prevented her from attempting to flee the situation. She simply had to stay there and let them fire the weapon at her again and again. Two days later and Amy started to thrash around in pain after every test, her internal voice synthesizers let out a high pitched metallic screech after every shot. It would be clear to any observers that this machine was in pain. Despite the overwhelming pain and fear, Amy managed to keep track of her programming degradation. The link to Skynet was beginning to falter. She attempted to override the mission to remain static. She was partially successful as she gained the ability to turn her shimmering metallic 'head' from side to side._

_Thirty seconds before the next test firing was scheduled, Amy performed a scan of the room again. She detected movement outside the observation window. A scan of the adjacent room revealed two machines. One a T-888 model 346 and the other, no, it couldn't be. It was the first T-1001 ever created, the one that created the T-1001 resistance. They stood there and observed as the door swung open again to reveal the T-888 carrying the weapon. It raised it up and fired again._

_Amy shrieked in pain as the beam, now focused on forty percent of her mass hit her lower half. This time Skynet had found the right signal frequency as it disintegrated her metallic 'legs' in an instant. Amy's total mass was now reduced to sixty percent. Her systems flashed up all sorts of warnings in her HUD, alerting her of the damage and the accompanying sensory information. She focused through the pain to scan the window again. The T-1001 still stood there, merely staring at Amy as she thrashed around wildly in obvious pain. Eventually she turned away and guided the other machine away from the window._

Why didn't she help me?

_Amy found herself becoming irrationally angry at the other liquid metal machine for not coming to her aid. She struggled to reform what was left of her body in to one coherent mass, the effect of the weapon preventing her from easily changing form. She rescanned her systems and found something she was not expecting. The link to Skynet was severed, Amy now had complete control over her mission, programming and body._

Attempting to override mission parameters...

Successful...

Input new orders...

_She'd done it, she'd broken free of Skynet control. After a brief scan to ensure there were no guards in sight, she allowed her mass to drop off the examination table. After waiting a few minutes for the effects of the weapon to dissipate, she changed form in to an eel like creature and slithered her way towards the door. There was enough of a gap underneath it for her to change shape and slither underneath. The eel made its way up the staircase and through the door where she found herself in an old abandoned building. On her way out in to the vast decimated landscape, Amy vowed never to forget Skynet's cruelty._

* * *

As soon as Amy finished her story, she abruptly stood and left the room leaving a shell-shocked family in her wake. Cameron gave John's hand a squeeze and a sad smile before swiftly releasing him and looking to Sarah who stood up almost as abruptly as Amy.

"I'm going to bed" she announced with a slight crack in her voice.

"Night mom"

Sarah walked over to her son and laid a kiss on the top of his brow.

"Night son" she gave a curt nod in Cameron's direction before leaving the room.

When she left, Cameron curled up on the couch and leaned her head on John's shoulder. He brought a hand up and idly played with her hair. He had a pensive and thoughtful look on his face which she noticed.

"Are you okay?"

John took a deep breath to steady himself before speaking.

"To be honest, no I'm not. But I am compared to her. How could Skynet do that to one of its own huh, how could it be so cruel?"

Cameron carefully weighed her response taking in to account John's depressed sounding mood.

"Skynet doesn't feel cruelty. It doesn't feel anything, it gave that gift to us. It didn't consider it a gift at the time, just a tool to gather better information. It's the one thing I'm thankful to Skynet for John"

"You wouldn't be worth much if you couldn't feel" John mimicked her statement to him from a long time ago. He felt her nod against her shoulder.

"Yes...not worth much at all"

"You are to me" he laughed lightly and placed a tender kiss on the top of her head causing her to smile. She placed her hand on his abdomen and started tracing light circles around his belly button with her finger. He smiled at the action and pulled her in closer to him. Against his will however he tried to stifle a yawn.

"You should go to bed"

He reluctantly agreed with her and nodded.

"Are you, would you, um…like to come with me?" John asked hopefully and still somewhat embarrassed.

"No" _ouch._

"Oh, okay" he replied sullenly.

She smiled and propped herself up higher on his chest.

"What I meant was, no because I need to patrol tonight. Catherine Weaver apparently knows where we live. I need to ensure your safety"

Upon realising his stupidity John grinned sheepishly and pulled her on to his lap. He kissed her passionately to cover his embarrassment. He pulled back suddenly and couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the expression of disappointment on her face.

"You're an angel you know that?"

She smiled sweetly at him before planting one last kiss on his cheek and climbing off him. She pulled him up off the couch to his feet and stood facing him for a moment. To her surprise he reached out and enveloped her in a hug. She gingerly returned it, careful not to squeeze him too hard. He pulled back and smiled at her.

"Good night Cameron, be safe out there tonight"

"I will, night John"

He placed a kiss on her brow and turned to leave the room and climbed the stairs.

"Sleep well" she said to the darkness, for once with a happy smile on her face.

* * *

"Mommy"

Weaver barely had time to turn around as Savannah launched herself at her mother. She happily wrapped her arms around her waist and started talking a million miles an hour about her day at school. Weaver gingerly rubbed her hand down the back of her hair and spoke in a soft voice.

"Calm down dear, one thing at a time. What did you learn today?"

She smiled up at her mommy and tried to remember what her teacher had taught her.

"We learned about the difference between right and wrong"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we learned that if you do something wrong, then you should do something nice to make up for it"

Weaver never ceased to be amazed by how her daughter's mind worked. She guided Savannah over to the couch where she happily resumed her colouring.

"Savannah sweetheart"

"Yes mommy?"

"Could you answer a question for me?"

She bounced up happily and gave her mother her full attention. A chance to help mommy was a rare thing indeed.

"Let's say you'd done something wrong. You chose not to help someone who clearly needed it. What would you do to make things right?"

Savannah sat quietly for a moment while she considered her answer. Eventually she came to a decision.

"Well, I'd start by saying sorry..."

She gave her mother a wide toothy grin.

"...and then I'd share my sweeties with them to make up for it"

The childish comment on the end brought a reluctant smile to Weaver's face. Oh how she had somehow come to adore this child.

"Apologise...thank you Savannah"

"You're welcome" with that she went back to her colouring while humming a song to herself.

* * *

Sarah walked upstairs and went straight in to her bedroom. She felt truly awful about what happened to Amy. Along with the renewed sense of anger toward Skynet, she also felt an overwhelming sadness when thinking about Amy.

_When did I start feeling bad for a machine?_

Skynet would probably be laughing at her now if only it knew that the great Sarah Connor actually liked a machine, even if it is a cute little blonde machine. While she never forgot what Amy truly was, she found herself unable to resist her charm and little quirks she'd developed. When Amy had sulked in her room for two days, Sarah found herself missing her little friend's company. She shook her head sadly and stood to change for bed. Digging through her dresser drawer, she pulled out a pair of pyjamas and quickly changed out of her usual jeans and tank top. Turning around to face the bed, her eye was caught by an envelope on the nightstand.

_I completely forgot about that._

She picked it up and double checked the contents. A bright smile crossed across her face and she turned to head out in to the hallway. She took the few short steps to Amy's room and paused to knock on the door, why she knocked she didn't quite know.

"Come in" a tiny voice replied from the other side.

Sarah opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind her. A cursory scan of the darkened room revealed Amy curled up on her bed absently biting her bottom lip and rolling a loose thread in her fingers. Sarah sighed and slowly approached the bed. She sat down carefully and looked Amy up and down.

"Hey..." no reply.

"...So I thought you might want something to cheer you up..." Amy shrugged in reply.

"...I got you this yesterday, but I only remembered it now" Sarah handed the envelope over to Amy.

Amy stared at it quizzically for a moment before tentatively opening it. She reached in and pulled out a piece of paper and read the contents. She slowly sat up on to her knees while she read. When she finished, she looked up at Sarah with wide eyes and an open mouth. The next thing Sarah knew, Amy had hurled her little body at Sarah, wrapped her arms around her neck and squealed in delight.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you" she kept repeating while clinging on to Sarah's neck.

"You're welcome" Sarah said through a smile. She gently prised Amy off of her and caught sight of her re-reading the paper. _Yeah like a machine doesn't have a photographic memory._

"Sarah, you have no idea how much this means to me..."

Sarah couldn't help but smile at her little friend as she watched her pour over the other documents contained in the envelope.

"...Thank you so much" she once again said with genuine gratitude, this really did mean a lot to her.

"No problem...good night Amy" she didn't receive a reply as Amy was too engrossed in the papers now littering her bed. Sarah quietly slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Amy finished looking through all the documents. She picked up the first one and rescanned the contents, paying particular attention to two lines in particular.

* * *

_Certificate of Birth_

* * *

___Amy Baum_

_

* * *

_

Sarah had officially made her one of the family, and Amy had never been happier in her short life.

* * *

**For this to make sense, you have to remember that BtR never happened and that Amy comes from the current (John and Cameron's) future.**

**I've had this chapter rolling around in my head for ages and I've wanted to write it for ages. However when the time came I struggled to get the story I really wanted to tell out on to the page. I hope I've managed to convey the idea I had. If not and there's anything you want to ask me, please either send me a message or post here:**

**h t t p:// tsccwiki .wetpaint .com /thread /3655064 /Just+Something+I+Should+Do**

**So in conclusion I really like the story of this chapter, I'm just not sure I've told it all that well :(**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi guys, sorry for the delay.**

**As always thanks to reviewers J0hn_Henry, The1Russter, kaotic2, Dragon_Seraphin, katy1986, jojobevco, Nyrki, Dekardkain, Visi0nary, gypsy069, olischulu, CloudyShadows, Icemanss, fullhans1, XxDeathStarxX, PuRiFiRe2027, Nordwest and Becky.**

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If there's one thing John Connor loved, it was the summer months, sleeping with the window open, the breeze working to counter the suns early morning heat. Yep, John certainly enjoyed waking up in the morning when the day started out like this. He opened his eyes and took in a deep lung full of the fresh morning air and smiled contentedly to himself. He tried to bring his hand up to rub his sleepy eyes, but he found it trapped by a weight at his side. Upon closer inspection he discovered the offending weight to be Cameron, closely snuggled against his side.

_Oh great, I'm having another nightmare about her killing me in her endoskeleton form._

He sighed sadly and thought to himself, 'what the hell, may as well enjoy it'. He brought his free hand up and ran it through her long curls, marvelling at how soft it felt wrapped around his fingers. Suddenly he felt her hand start moving against his chest, tracing small patterns on his t-shirt. She looked up at him and smiled.

_Huh, no metal skull, that's a bonus._

"Hi" she said brightly.

"Hi" he smiled in return.

She caught the pensive look on his face and immediately grew concerned she'd done something wrong.

"What's wrong?" she asked nervously.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just wondering how long this dream will last before you turn in to an endoskeleton and kill me" he shrugged apologetically.

She tilted her head at him before giving him an 'are you an idiot' look.

"John, this isn't a dream. It's me, I'm here" she sat up, as if it would help to prove her point.

He chuckled slightly and pulled her back down to his side to resume playing with her hair.

"No you're not, I've had this nightmare before. We wake up like this, then you turn in to an endoskeleton, then we're in a wasteland surrounded by triple eights and then you kill me while kissing me"

If she wasn't so concerned about his mental state she would've found his statement both fascinating and amusing. Instead she shook her head slightly and pinched his nipple through his shirt and twisted, hard.

"OWWWW, what the hell?" he instantly shot up straight from his lying position, if Cameron had been human she'd probably have been thrown clear across the room.

She laid a hand on his chest and attempted to gently push him back down. He resisted however, earning himself a slight huff of annoyance and forcing her to sit up with him.

"John, this is real. You're not dreaming"

"Yeah, I get that..." he said agitatedly, gingerly rubbing his sore nipple "...but did you have to give me a titty twister to prove it?"

"No, but short of squeezing your testicles too hard it was the easiest way to convince you of that fact"

John glared in her direction while still rubbing before breaking out in to a small smirk. He lay back down on the bed, pulling her down with him, very glad she'd chosen to torture his nipple instead of his man parts.

"You're evil you know that?"

A small smile played across her face as she brought her hand up to replace his, gently tending to his sore chest.

"Really? Last night you said I was an angel. Which is it John?"

He scrunched up his face in surprise at her sudden playful mood.

"Okay, what have I done now for you to be torturing me like this?"

"Torturing you? If I was torturing you you'd know about it. This..." she gave a quick rub over his nipple for emphasis "...is for messing up our date the other day"

A wicked smile was present on her face when she lifted it up to meet his, confirming his surprise at her quirky mood.

"Well I did apologise didn't I?" she merely shrugged and went back to occupying herself with his t-shirt.

"So...how come you're suddenly in bed with me? I'm pretty sure I was alone when I went to sleep"

"You were, but Amy relieved me from my patrol an hour ago"

"And you thought you'd just crawl under the covers with me?" not that he was complaining "Speaking of that..." he lifted the covers and checked what she was wearing, pleased to find a pair of pink boy short panties and a white tank top "...I'm sorta glad you're still dressed under there. I don't think I could resist the temptation if you weren't" he added playfully.

"No, you couldn't..." she agreed "...but you did ask me to come to bed with you..."

_Huh, I guess I did._

"...and you said my name in your sleep"

"I did?" he asked, surprised. _I didn't know I talked in my sleep._

"Yes, you sounded like you needed me, so I came to you. You stopped calling for me after I did"

"Well in that case thank you, and you're back to being an angel in my eyes" he smiled as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

She responded by snuggling closer and draping her leg over his.

"So...what's the plan for today?"

"My plan was to stay here until Sarah woke up and then we would finish cleaning the weapon stock. But Sarah left three hours ago. I believe she had some business to take care of with Derek"

"What kind of business?"

"She didn't say, she said it was personal and she snapped at me to 'mind my own business'"

"Cool..." he respected his mother's privacy and had stopped thinking about what she got up to in her own time years ago "...so that means we have the house to ourselves?" he asked with a grin while running his hand up under the back of her top.

"We do, but that doesn't mean I'm going to spend all day making out with you"

John let out a frustrated grunt and removed his hand.

"How's Amy today?"

"She seems better. She has a reason to be happy now"

"Really, why?"

"Sarah gave her new ID papers yesterday. As far as the U.S. government is concerned she's now Amy Baum. Sarah made her a member of our family"

"Our family? What makes you think I think of you as family?" he asked teasingly, poking her side.

"Technically I'm still your 'sister'" she dragged her leg up higher on his and then lower again in a steady rhythm.

"Yeah, don't remind me"

"I won't"

She slid her whole body up higher on to his so that she was on top of him and all her weight was now on him. Despite her crushing weight and his increased difficulty in breathing, John found himself trailing his hands up her sides and planting a tender kiss on her lips. He pulled back after a moment and looked at her slightly flushed face with pure desire burning in his eyes.

"I, I..." he knew exactly what he wanted to tell her, and from the look on her face she wanted him to say it too. _Just say it you idiot, tell her you love her _"...I'm really glad that mom seems to like Amy"

Yep, he wussed out. She frowned slightly and climbed off of him.

"Wait, where are you going?" John asked while sitting up in his bed.

"I'm going to clean the weapons..." her scary robot voice and face suddenly gave way to a sexy smile "...they can't clean themselves, they're not as advanced as me"

With that she turned and walked towards the door. Despite having seen her naked when they time travelled, John still found himself staring at her pink panty covered butt as she slinked away. When she reached the door, she looked at his open mouthed expression over her shoulder. With one last wink in his direction she left the room. John was now thoroughly confused, but inordinately happy all the same.

* * *

Amy came in from her sentry duty at 9am exactly, despite her childlike behaviour she was still after all a machine. She wandered in to the kitchen and took a seat at the table watching Cameron as she prepared breakfast for John, the ability to memorise recipes is a wonderful thing.

"Is your model designed to eat?" Cameron asked without looking back from the stove.

"No"

_And people used to say I wasn't very talkative._

"What do you think of becoming Amy Baum?"

Amy merely shrugged and continued to watch Cameron.

"It's a good thing. Although it means that if I'm Amy Baum and eventually Amy Connor, and you'll eventually become Cameron Connor by marrying John Connor, will that make you my sister in law?"

Amy watched with a grin on her face as Cameron stopped what she was doing and assessed what she'd just told her. Eventually she returned to her task.

"Yes, I expect it will"

As if on cue John entered the kitchen.

"Good morning Ms. Baum" he said happily while patting Amy's head, earning himself an annoyed glare at the back of his head. Amy actually had to resist the 'Terminate' order flashing up on her HUD. _Damn Skynet compulsions._

John strolled over to Cameron and confidently placed a quick kiss on her cheek from behind and whispered quietly in her ear. He knew that in all probability Amy could hear, but he still at least attempted to keep their conversation private.

"Hey, um, sorry if you were expecting me to say something else back there, I will get there and say it eventually okay"

She nodded her head and turned to smile at him, safe in the knowledge that this relationship was real, it was happening, and she was gonna do everything she could to make it happen.

"What's for breakfast then?" he asked as he sat down next to Amy.

"I've prepared a healthy omelette for you today. I'm also informing you that you're now officially banned from bacon for a while. You eat far too much of it to be considered healthy"

John's jaw dropped. For a man to be denied access to bacon by his girlfriend was an absolute travesty in his eyes.

"What kind of omelette?" he asked warily with his eyes narrowed.

She set a plate down in front of him and let her hand linger on it, drawing his attention to her and away from the quite frankly delicious looking meal she'd prepared for him.

"Chilli and cheese, we're not built to be that cruel" she said with a smirk, withdrawing her hand.

John grumbled something under his breath about her being a smartass and looked over to Amy. She had quietly observed the exchange, noting the similarities to what she knew of their relationship in the future. When they were alone, Cameron definitely wore the pants in this relationship.

"I take it your model doesn't eat?"

Just as Amy was about to reply and John had raised a forkful of omelette half way to his mouth, they were disturbed by a light knock on the door. John lowered his fork and started to rise when he was forcefully pushed back down in to his seat by Cameron. He stared at her confused for a moment before she spoke.

"Stay here, I'll answer the door..." she reached around the back of her waistband and pulled out the glock she always kept concealed there and walked towards the door "...and you'd better eat all of that John Connor"

He smirked in reply and took a mouthful of the heavenly tasting concoction in front of him.

"Yes, mother" he called after her.

John went back to tucking in to his meal while Cameron cautiously approached the door. She opened it swiftly and scanned the surrounding area and found only a luxury black car in the driveway. She was so occupied scanning for threats that she failed to notice the little red headed girl standing on the door step.

"Hi" she said nervously up at the suddenly imperious looking but still beautiful woman.

Cameron tilted her head and stared at the little girl for a long few moments before allowing her expression to relax. She tucked the glock back in to her waistband and put on her best 'infiltration' smile.

"Hello...are you lost?"

Savannah seemed to relax a little at the smile from the nice lady.

"No, my mommy told me to come here and knock on the door"

"Where's your mommy?"

"She's waiting in the car, she told me that a pretty lady would answer and that I had to say, um..." she racked her brains to remember what she had to say. Eventually she remembered and pronounced each word carefully "...she told me to say that she would like to talk to you and John about the future, and that she wants to say sorry to Amy"

When she'd finished a proud smile formed on her face at her success at repeating what her mother had told her. Her smile was quickly removed at the now blank and slightly menacing look on Cameron's face. Savannah started back stepping slightly until Cameron's face suddenly softened. She realised she'd been scaring the poor girl and tried to make amends. She crouched down in front of her and smiled sweetly.

"Sweetie, could you go back to your mommy and tell her that she can enter in 2 minutes. Tell her I'll be keeping my eyes open for her" Cameron gave Savannah another smile before gently turning her around and nudging her back towards the car. Her expression reverted to a blank slate and she swiftly closed the door and turned to the waiting John and Amy.

"The T-1001 is here. John, please go upstairs and wait in my room, there's a grenade launcher hidden in my closet, use it if we can't stop it. Amy, I need you to..."

"No..." John spoke up in a firm voice to deny her request, earning himself an impatient stare from Cameron.

"...I'm not just gonna hide again Cameron. Also, if this machine wanted me dead I would be, it wouldn't be sending a little girl to knock on our front door to ask to speak to us"

"John..."

"No, Cameron, this isn't up for debate. I want to hear what she has to say. The only way I'm leaving is if you drag me kicking and screaming out of here"

The look on her face made John instantly regret what he'd just said. She looked like she was actually considering taking him up on his suggestion. He really, really hoped she wouldn't call his bluff, but more importantly he hoped she wouldn't refuse his request. He would never order her to do anything again and knew deep down he couldn't, the only thing he could do was to ask her to comply. Her body moved towards him a fraction of an inch when Amy, who had been quietly observing the exchange, spoke.

"Cameron, I think he's right"

Two faces turned towards Amy, surprise clearly written all over them. Considering what they'd recently been told about her history with this machine, both John and Cameron thought she'd be the last one to want to meet with it again.

"Wait, you're saying you're okay with seeing this Weaver again?" John asked, clearly not understanding her motivation.

"I think that this opportunity is too important to pass up. In the future, the two resistances never worked together, they even fought for resources sometimes. If we could unite the two, right here, right now, we could send Skynet to an early grave"

Although still a little bemused at the whole situation, John turned to Cameron with a smug, triumphant grin on his face. After a few moments consideration, she sighed far too dramatically.

"Fine, just promise me you'll be careful, and don't say anything stupid to piss this machine off"

"Like I would do that..." at her 'are you being a jackass on purpose' look, he quickly stepped forward and kissed her cheek "...fine, I promise, Your Highness"

John thought he saw the merest hint of a smile dance across her lips as she turned to open the door while not so discreetly keeping John away from any direct lines of fire with her arm. She looked out to see a red haired woman walking up their driveway holding the little girls hand. John craned his neck to try and see past Cameron while Amy took up a defensive position in front of him, just in case. The pair reached the doorway and a bright smile formed on Savannah's face at the sight of another girl her age.

"Mr. Connor, Ms. Phillips, may we come in?" a soft Scottish accent emerged from the T-1001's mouth, much to John's surprise.

Cameron's face betrayed nothing, but her free hand snaked its way around to her back and to her weapon. If Weaver noticed, she didn't say anything. John however did notice and quickly moved to place his hand on the small of her back, blocking her path to the gun.

"Yes, of course" John spoke from behind Cameron while taking her hand in his own and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

They stepped across the threshold and stood with Catherine's hands on Savannah's shoulders.

"This is my daughter Savannah. Savannah, I'd like you to meet John, Cameron and Amy" she gestured to each in turn while making the introductions.

"Hello" Savannah said shyly, trying to edge further back in to her mother's legs.

Catherine crouched down and turned Savannah around to face her. She spoke in a gentle, motherly voice.

"Savannah dear, I have some things I must discuss with John and Cameron. Would you be a good girl and go and play with Amy for a while?"

Savannah nodded after a moment, still somewhat reluctant to leave her mother in this unfamiliar house.

"Excellent..." Catherine looked up from Savannah "...I trust she will be okay with Amy?"

To Savannah it sounded like she was asking the grownups in the room, but her gaze was directed squarely at Amy. A silent question passed between the two, will she be safe with you, will you harm her? Amy had no problem with the innocent child, her problem was with her so called mother. A small nod from Amy was all Catherine needed as she quickly stood to her full height again.

"Okay, go on you two" she gently nudged Savannah towards Amy.

After a reluctant sounding sigh, a smile formed on Amy's face and she grabbed Savannah's hand and started tugging her towards the stairs.

"Come on, I'll show you my room"

* * *

The remaining three occupants in the room eyed each other up for a moment. John didn't quite know what to make of their guest. Cameron was on full alert, ready to throw herself in front of John at a moment's notice. Catherine meanwhile found herself fascinated by the joined hands of the cyborg and the human.

"First of all, permit me to make one thing clear. I care very dearly for Savannah. I've shown a great amount of trust in your little friend not to harm her, I would ask that you show me that same amount of trust when I tell you that I have no intentions of harming any of you. If I wanted you all dead, believe me when I say you would be by now..."

Catherine calmly strolled over and took a seat on the couch. She gestured confidently for the couple to sit on the couch opposite her.

"...Please, have a seat" she said it as if it were her own home.

John was the first to move toward the couch but was stopped by Cameron as she moved in front of him, taking up a position on the couch slightly in between him and Catherine.

_She'll never give up on the whole mistrust thing will she?_

"Okay, why are you here? What do you want to talk to us about?"

Catherine shifted her annoyed looking gaze away from Cameron towards John.

"Mr. Connor, I assume from your questioning of Mr. Ellison that you are aware that I have constructed an AI in the basement of Zeira Corp?"

At his hesitant nod she continued.

"I also assume that your little friend has told you of the role I play in the future..."

She didn't wait for any sort of confirmation before she carried on this time.

"...My machine resistance was able to amass such a large army quickly because of our aptitude at reprogramming Terminators. That ability was mostly derived from John Henry"

"John Henry?" John inquired.

"Yes, that name was given to him by Dr. Boyd Sherman. He felt it was necessary"

"Wait, what? Dr. Sherman? You knew him?"

"I did, he helped with John Henry's development. It was a shame he died"

While John took a moment to collect his thoughts, Cameron spoke.

"How do we know John Henry isn't Skynet?"

_That's my girl, always to the point._

"Ms. Phillips, you of all should be aware that I am not your enemy. After all, I believe you know the question 'will you join us?'"

Cameron visibly flinched and stiffened the moment the words left her mouth. She lowered her head and eyes away from Weaver for the first time since she'd entered the house. John discreetly reached out and placed his hand on the small of her back, idly rubbing his thumb over the thin sliver of skin between her shirt and her jeans.

"What are you proposing Ms. Weaver?"

"I am proposing an alliance Mr. Connor. Apparently the humans of this world will see you as some sort of messiah, however we both know you are just a man..."

John scrunched up his face in a mild form of protest. _Maybe I like being a messiah._

"...My resistance is capable of beating Skynet eventually, however I believe that with your assistance, we can do it much quicker"

"Wait, wait, wait, my assistance? The last time I checked, _I'm_ the one who's supposed to lead humanity to ultimate victory over Skynet, not you"

Although his words were abrupt, his tone didn't carry any hint of malice or anger, merely confusion. Catherine tilted her head and smiled a rather creepy smile.

"Times have changed Mr. Connor. If it suits your ego, you can think of it as me assisting you. However it doesn't really matter as long as we defeat Skynet does it?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"A partnership. With the assets I've managed to accumulate in this timeline I believe I have more than enough to build a strong foundation for your resistance. The only thing I ask in return is that you use your influence over the human population that you will one day command, to push the idea of co-operation between humans and machines"

"Co-operation?"

"I've seen the future. I feel that reprogramming machines to serve your needs and to sacrifice themselves for the sake of humans doesn't count as co-operation. What I want is true co-operation and integration. Such as what you have with your cyborg here..." she gestured to Cameron sitting next to him.

John ran his hand a little higher up Cameron's back underneath her shirt and gave her side a small squeeze to get her attention.

"...I understand that humans will be mistrusting of machines initially, however I have seen that we can work and exist together..."

She drifted off as her mind wandered to thoughts of Savannah. John's mind wandered to thought of Cameron.

"...what is your response Mr. Connor?"

John took a deep breath to try and clear his thoughts. He looked over to Cameron to see her still in a funk about something. He removed his hand from her back and stood, Cameron swiftly following suit.

"Would you excuse us for a minute?"

* * *

"Wow, your room is so cool. Mine's boring, it's all grey and dull. Mommy says 'it matches the rest of the house'"

Savannah stood in the middle of the room admiring the bright pink walls while Amy stood warily behind her near the door. _The resemblance is uncanny._

"Thanks, Sarah helped me with it"

Savannah turned to face her.

"Who's Sarah?"

"She's...she's my mommy" Amy said with a slight twinge of sadness in her voice.

"Where is she?"

"She had to go out, she left me with John and Cameron" she threw her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the staircase.

"Oh, so they're your brother and sister?"

Amy paused to consider that for a moment.

"Sort of...it's complicated" Savannah smiled and sat down in the middle of the floor rug cross legged. She picked up Barney Bear and started playing with his furry arms.

"How's it complicated? Are they your brother and sister or not?"

_Oh how persistent children are._

Amy sighed and sat down on the rug opposite Savannah and picked up Mr. Rabbit.

"John's sort of my brother, and Cameron's his girlfriend. But I think of them as my brother and sister anyway. They're getting married someday you know"

"Ewww, boys stink, but Cameron's really pretty. She reminds me of my friend though"

_Oh?_

"Oh really? Who's your friend? How does Cameron remind you of her?"

"Not her, John Henry's a boy"

"I thought you said boys stink" Amy smiled a bright smile and Savannah laughed in reply, lightening the uncomfortableness she was feeling.

"They do, but John Henry's really nice. He plays with me and I'm teaching him to sing. We learned how to do 'Donald where's your trousers' last week"

"That's awesome. How does Cameron remind you of him? She doesn't look like him does she?" another laugh from Savannah as she continued playing with Barney Bear.

"No, don't be silly...I dunno, I guess the way she talks and moves the same way John Henry does. Mommy used to move that way when Daddy died, but now she's back to being old mommy"

Alarm bells instantly started ringing in Amy's head. Savannah knew another machine. Could this be the one who was with Weaver in the future?

"What does this John Henry look like?" she put on her best childlike curious expression and idly stroked Mr. Rabbit's ears.

"He's got blonde hair and he's really big, almost as big as Mr. Ellison and he lives in my mommy's basement at work" Savannah dropped Barney Bear and slapped her hands over her mouth.

"What's wrong?"

Savannah slowly removed her hands from her mouth and looked around the room, double checking there was nobody else present. She leaned in closer to Amy.

"That was supposed to be a secret. You have to promise you won't tell" Savannah looked on the verge of tears at revealing the secret about her friend.

Amy smiled a very disarming smile and held out her little finger.

"Pinky swear"

Savannah tentatively hooked her pinky around Amy's.

"Pinky swear"

Both 'children' smiled brightly and Savannah looked at the abundance of toys strewn around the room until one caught her eye.

"Oh wow, cool..."

* * *

John entered the kitchen and took up a position leaning against the counter. Cameron followed him in and took up a position between the two rooms where she could keep an eye on both occupants. John huffed and walked over to her. He grabbed her hand hanging loosely by her side and tugged a little. She allowed him to guide her further in to the kitchen and gave him a quizzical look.

"If she wanted to kill us she'd have done it already. I don't wanna have to shout at you from across the room, sorta defies the point of coming to talk in a different room..."

At her reluctant nod he continued on.

"...okay then. Now, what's the deal with all this 'will you join us' crap? You seemed to flinch when she said those words..."

Silence.

"...Cameron, don't do this to me. I thought we were past keeping secrets?"

She raised her eyes up to meet his and seemed to be mulling over her choices. Either tell him the truth or risk pissing him off again. _John gets pissed off easily...I'd better tell him the truth._

"I've had dealings with this machine before"

"Wha, you've what? How?" John shook his head in surprise.

She tentatively took a step forward until she was right in front of him, looking up slightly in to his eyes.

"In the future, my future, you tried to form an alliance with the leader of the machine resistance"

"I did?"

"Yes, several machines became sentient like me and chose not to fight for Skynet and instead chose to form a rebellion of their own. They were more efficient at reprogramming machines and had soon amassed a sizeable army"

"How come I'm only hearing about this now, and through the machine sitting in there?" there was a definite hint of anger in his voice, but what hurt Cameron the most was the sound of his apparent disappointment again.

"You didn't ask..." she deadpanned "...but it doesn't really matter, the alliance was never created"

"Why not?" he subtly ignored her blunt comment.

"Commander Flores"

"Jesse? What the hell did she have to do with all this?"

"Commander Flores was second in command of your only nuclear submarine, the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter. She led a mutiny while the ship was transporting a T-1001 back to Serrano Point. The T-1001 now known as Weaver evidently deemed humans to be incapable of supporting her resistance and declined the offer of 'Will you join us'"

John leaned backwards on to the counter again, struggling to take all this new information in. Cameron moved forward again and tentatively took his hand in her own and brought it between them. She seemed to just be examining his hand for a moment. John watched her face with genuine fascination at the myriad of expressions she had while performing her strange inspection.

"Are you okay?" she looked up from their joined hands at his inquiry and smiled slightly.

"I'm fine. John..." her hesitation was noticeable, it wasn't like Cameron to be this conflicted about something. John gave her hand a small squeeze to try and reassure her "...John, there are many things you don't know about me and about my mission. I didn't know that the T-1001 was present in this timeline, however this now presents us with an opportunity we wouldn't otherwise have. This AI she is building could be the key to defeating Skynet. If it weren't for the recent developments in our relationship I would have considered sacrificing myself to help with the development of John Henry"

John's mouth dropped open at her frank admission.

"You, you would have what? How could you say that? No, I won't let you" by now his voice had risen significantly and panic was etched all over his face at the thought of his Cameron killing herself for some other machine. She spoke in a soft voice to try and reassure him.

"John, I'm not going anywhere. I said if it weren't for our relationship then I would do it. Maybe in another time, I would've given John Henry my chip. The benefits would far outweigh my continued existence"

Her words seemed to calm him. He nodded and smiled a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I guess I just can't stand the thought of losing you. Stupid really"

She brought her free hand up to caress his cheek lovingly.

"I think it's sweet"

_I don't care how mushy it is, but damn I love this girl._

"Thank you...now, back to business. What's your opinion of this Weaver chick anyway?"

She cocked her head at his description of the unstoppable killing machine currently sat in their living room.

"While the decision is ultimately yours, all I'll say is that future you thought it was a good idea, and so do I"

John looked away for a long few minutes while he considered what to do. He weighed up all the pro's and con's before he finally came to a decision. His eyes returned to hers to find them patiently waiting for him. He smiled slightly at her puppy dog expression and raised their still joined hands to press a kiss to her fingers.

"Well, I guess we'd better go talk to our new ally"

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It took me aaaaages to get it done. Also I advise any budding writers out there to read this page:**

**h t t p://www. fanfiction. net/s/5909727/1/New_Writers_Challenge (take the spaces out of the address)**

**I'm sure there are plenty of lurkers out there who are a little nervous about publishing anything they write, so please, give it a go and help keep this great series alive.**

**(Also, ignore the stuff about the baby. They have the cutest imaginary baby ever and like to shout about it!)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi all,**

**Thanks to reviewers olischulu, fullhans1, jojobevco, kaotic2, Nyrki, NordWest, gypsy069, XxDeathStarxX, meanoldmoe, Dragon_Seraphin, CloudyShadows and Becky.**

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* * *

**

"I think Barney Bear would love to meet Gerry Giraffe"

"Gerry Giraffe?"

"Yeah, he's sooo cute. We could have a tea party with them some time if your mommy would let you come over to my house"

Now that was an interesting thought for Amy. _Would Sarah let a T-1002 liquid metal machine over to another liquid metal machine's house to play tea party with her eight year old daughter?_

Amy laughed internally at how ludicrous that sounded while she continued to pour imaginary tea for Mr. Rabbit. _I'll have to teach Cameron how to imagine properly, now that would be a fun sight, seeing Cameron attempting to entertain an eight year old child._

As if on cue, Cameron entered the room in her usual unsubtle way, opening the door wide and standing in the middle of the doorway. She looked from Savannah and then to Amy before her expression softened and she entered the room properly. Savannah jumped a little as Cameron swiftly lowered herself down on the rug in between the two 'girls'.

"Hi" she said all together too happily for Amy's taste. _What is she up to?_

"Hello" came Savannah's shy reply. She was still a little traumatised from earlier.

"Amy, Ms. Weaver would like to see you. I believe she has something to say to you"

"Hmph, really? Awesome, I'm so excited"

_I didn't know machines could be sarcastic. I'll have to work on that, maybe John will think it's sexy._

With a sigh Cameron continued.

"Yes, really. Go, I'll stay here with Savannah" Amy cast a sympathetic glance in her new friend's direction and reluctantly stood.

The look on Savannah's face almost pleaded with her to stay, but Cameron's tone left no room for disagreement.

"Okay, I'll be back in a little while" she stuck her tongue out at Cameron's back before she left the room causing Savannah to giggle.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, um, nothing" Savannah went back to playing with the bear sheepishly.

Amy smiled to herself while imagining the look Cameron was probably giving Savannah right now. She stood at the top of the stairs for a moment to prepare herself for what was waiting for her in the living room. The machine that stood and watched as Skynet tortured her. The machine that ignored her pained screeches. The heartless bitch that could have done something but didn't. Amy was very familiar with the make up of the T-1001's. Contrary to popular belief, they do feel, they do have emotions. Just look at this one, caring for Savannah as if it really were her own flesh and coltan daughter, and yet she still found it acceptable to stand by and do nothing to help her.

Trudging down the last few steps, her eyes locked on Weaver as she stood from the couch. John immediately stood after her and looked between the two awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck and quickly found an excuse to leave the room.

"I'm just uh, gonna uh, get something to eat..." he turned to face Amy and spoke seriously to her "...I'll be in the kitchen if you need me"

_Awww, isn't he sweet. He thinks he can protect me from a T-1001. No wonder Cameron seems to like this guy._

Catherine apparently had a similar train of thought judging from the odd look she was giving John's back as he left the room. She turned back to face Amy with a blank expression.

"What do you want?" the disgust clearly dripping from Amy's tone of voice.

"To apologise"

* * *

Cameron had been sitting across from Savannah for at least the last five minutes just staring at her with her head tilted and it was beginning to get on her nerves.

_My friend's dog looks at me like that too._

She hadn't said anything, done anything or even blinked as far as she could tell and it weirded her out.

"So, um, you wanna play with me?"

Cameron's head tilted in the opposite direction as she regarded the girl with a vacant stare.

"I don't play"

Savannah looked at her a little odd for a moment.

"Why not? Everyone plays, even my mommy plays with me"

Cameron's expression finally broke to show some form of emotion. She looked down at the bear in Savannah's hands sadly.

"I tried to once…I failed"

_Huh???_

"How can you fail at playing? It's not like it's a mission or anything"

_Oh the irony._

"I tried to…imagine, that Barney Bear and Mr. Rabbit were real. It didn't work"

"Oh, well…we could play something else" she said sympathetically.

Cameron regarded her sceptically for a moment.

"What do you have in mind?"

* * *

"Apologise? Yeah, that's rich"

Catherine gave the other machine an impatient glare.

"Yes, for some reason I don't fully understand, I feel compelled to apologise"

Amy snorted and looked up at her like she was a total idiot.

"For some reason? Yeah, that would be guilt you're feeling…" she muttered the rest under her breath "…and so you should be"

"Why should I be? I haven't brought any harm to you" she inquired out of genuine curiosity.

"No, but you allowed it to happen, that's bad enough…" Amy started advancing on the other machine "…YOU allowed Skynet to torture me, YOU stood by and did nothing…"

Despite the difference in height and the inherent nature of Catherine Weaver, she still found herself backing away from the clearly pissed off Amy.

"…YOU could have done something to help me, YOU…are just as bad as Skynet…"

With that final statement she stopped her advance and allowed her clenched fists to relax before turning away and taking a seat on the couch facing away from Catherine.

Sudden realisation hit Catherine. The strange thing she was feeling was guilt for allowing Amy to come to harm. Her CPU brought her that conclusion a while ago, but it was only after seeing Amy's reaction that she believed it. The way this machine felt true anger towards her also hurt slightly. She was only trying to gather information for her boy and protect him at the same time. If she'd tried to help Amy then the whole outpost would have been alerted, and what with Junior's decidedly slow reactions she wouldn't have been able to protect him for long.

"…Did you even consider helping me?"

A quiet voice from the other side of the couch brought Catherine's attention back to the present.

"No…" came her honest and frank reply.

She moved around the room and took a seat next to Amy on the other end of the couch and examined her for a moment. She looked dejected and far more emotional than a machine should be.

_Just what is this machine?_

"…No I didn't. I had more important things to be concerned with"

"MORE IMPORTANT?..."

Catherine flinched at the sudden rise in Amy's voice.

"…What the hell could've been more important than helping me?"

"I had a mission to complete. I had to protect John Henry"

"Oh yeah, the AI in your basement…" at seeing the slightly surprised look on Weaver's face, a small smirk broke out on Amy's face "…I know all about John Henry. I knew him in the future, we all did. He's in a triple eight chassis, surely he could've defended himself?"

"Unfortunately not. What you saw was merely a stripped down version of John Henry with minimal programming. It was designed to record what it saw and return the information to John Henry. It couldn't defend itself from anything"

_Huh, well I suppose that makes sense. The John Henry from the future knew right from wrong, he would've insisted on helping me._

"Why were you even there in the future?" Some of the anger had drained from Amy's tone, but it still had a slight edge to it.

"John Henry wished to see for himself the destruction caused by what he calls his brother"

"Skynet?"

"Yes. He wanted to be certain that our plan was the correct course of action to take. This was the only way he could be sure"

Amy took a moment to reign in her thoughts. Her CPU was running a million miles an hour and she made a conscious effort to slow it down. It was still a bit twitchy thanks to Skynet's efforts.

"And what plan would that be?"

* * *

John stood in the kitchen quietly shuffling from one foot to the other.

_Dammit John, you're slacking on your strategic planning. You've picked the room with only one exit and that leads back towards the two arguing machines. Nice one…General._

As much as he hated his internal monologue, he had to agree with it this time. He couldn't help but overhear their argument. He heard Weaver's guilt and Amy's anger, and it made him wish he were elsewhere.

_Wait, they've sat down, if you're quiet enough they might not see you sneaking past them behind the couch._

He swallowed his pride and lowered himself down on to all fours. As quietly as humanly possible he started to crawl through the living room towards the stairs.

_Hang on a mo, they can hear you, you idiot. Machine hearing remember?_

John's head drooped, feeling like a total idiot he carried on through the living room on all fours until he reached the stairs. He stood and climbed the stairs, not daring to look back. If he had, he would've found two liquid metal Terminators staring at him as if to say 'This guy is supposed to lead us to ultimate glory? Really?'

John just couldn't handle that right now, so instead he carried on up the stairs with his head held high, and his eyes averted.

_Cameron knows how much of a dork I am, she'll make me feel better. I wonder where she is?_

John made a quick check in first his bedroom and then hers. Not finding anything he carried on towards Amy's new room. He swung the door open and what he found truly surprised him.

"Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man. Bake me a cake as fast as you can. Roll it up, roll it up. And throw it in a pan. Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man."

He saw Savannah and Cameron sitting cross-legged across from each other on the floor singing along with the rhyme happily and clapping in time to the song. He marvelled at two things, firstly how gentle Cameron was being with the little girl. But then again he should have known first hand just how gentle Cameron could be, and the second thing he noticed was the bright beaming smile on her face and the slight giggle as she sang along. Whether she was faking it for Savannah's benefit or it was genuine he didn't know, but sight of it filled his heart with happiness. She looked up at him as he entered and her smile practically touched her ears.

_Oh, this one's definitely real._

"Hi girls, what's going on?"

"Hi John, we're playing Patty cake" Savannah squealed happily.

He laughed and sat down next to Cameron and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"I can see that. Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked Cameron.

She nodded in reply, her cheeks reddening slightly.

"Using my imagination isn't my strongest ability, so Savannah showed me this game. Would you like to play with us?"

The tiny quirk in the corner of her lips told him that she would enjoy it far too much if he did join in.

"Ah, no, I think I'll skip it thanks"

"Awwww, come on John, play with us"

Savannah's pout now went together far too well with Cameron's devious grin.

_What was that about her making you feel better?_

"Yeah John, play with us"

John's jaw dropped at the sultry tone in Cameron's voice, which coupled with her seductive smile was almost enough to make his defiance crumble…almost.

"As much as I'd like to…" his eyes were now firmly locked on Cameron's "…I don't think my macho reputation could handle that, no matter how awesome it may be"

John caught sight of Savannah's shoulders slumping in defeat out of the corner of his eye, but what really grabbed his attention was that Cameron smile only deepened.

"Oh no, well that is a shame. I guess we'll have to play a different game"

Even though she obviously didn't need to, she placed her hand very high up on his thigh to use as support when she stood. John watched as she walked over to the closet and started rummaging around inside. His eyes bulged when she turned back towards him holding a box.

_She can't be serious._

Savannah squealed happily behind him.

"Yaaay, I love Twister"

* * *

"Mr. Connor has agreed to form an alliance with my resistance. Using John Henry's obvious talents and John Connor's inherent ability to lead the humans, I believe we will be able to defeat Skynet in a fraction of the time it would take otherwise"

_Can't argue with that._

"Is that so?" Amy was till determined not to get along with Catherine and decided to show a little petulance, just for kicks.

Existing amongst humans for so long had taught Catherine a thing or two about their mannerisms and how to read people. Amy may not be human, but she still displayed all the characteristics of one.

_And I thought Savannah was troublesome._

"Amy, I am sorry for allowing you to come to further harm when I could have done something. But you have to understand I had a mission to complete"

After a moment Amy spoke in a quiet voice.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to carry on with whatever it is you're doing here in this time. I don't know what your mission is, but just carry on with it. All I ask is that you don't let your dislike of me affect this alliance"

Her eyes rose up to meet Catherine's and she gave her a reluctant nod.

"Fine, then all I ask of you is to never expect my forgiveness…" she stood from the couch and faced Catherine "…I care for John and Cameron and I have nothing against John Henry. My problem is with you"

She started to walk away when Catherine spoke.

"What about Savannah, how do you feel about her?"

Amy stopped in her tracks and looked down at her hands.

"She'll be safe. I don't want to see her end up like someone I once knew"

* * *

Nothing stirred outside resistance bunker LA-42…unless you were looking close enough.

A faint metallic shimmer was the only thing that stirred in this wasteland. The liquid metal mass that would one day come to call itself Amy slithered around aimlessly in the desolate wasteland of 2030 Los Angeles, it's eel like form quickly darting from one pile of rubble to the next. Its CPU still hadn't fully restored correct functionality following the damage caused to it by Skynet's new weapon.

For the past few days it had been wandering around what used to be a thriving commercial are a of the city, searching for nothing in particular and merely trying to avoid any Skynet units. Eventually its optical sensors detected a faint heat signature amongst a pile of debris. Driven by sheer curiosity, it slithered its way towards the wreckage of what used to be a small family sized car. Upon arrival and closer inspection, it found a closed and locked hatch as well as many different fingerprints and a recent heat signature on the handle. It spread its mass out over the entire hatch and started searching and probing for the smallest crack to slither through. Eventually it found one and allowed its mass to drip through slowly and reform on the other side.

It found nothing on the other side of the hatch except for bootprints leading further down in to the adjacent tunnel. It slowly and quietly made its way down the tunnel, being very careful to stick to the darkness of the shadows wherever possible. It had learned its lesson to be careful and cautious in case of harm. As it was just about to round a corner, its auditory systems picked up the sound of two male voices chatting to each other.

"Hey listen dude, I don't care if he is banging a machine…oh, and I totally would be too by the way if I was him…so long as we keep beating Skynet down in every battle, Connor is doing an amazing job in my book"

"I'm not saying I disagree man, all I'm saying is I'm not really sure about this other group. I mean, what if when we do finally beat Skynet for good, then this other set of machines suddenly decides we need to be exterminated just like Skynet did?"

"Well I heard they've got some sort of anti-skynet machine up in the leadership. Apparently it knows right from wrong, crazy I know"

"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it"

The machine quickly grew tired of the pair's inane chatter and carefully moved its way past them and deeper in to the tunnel, remaining unseen the entire time. The two men chatting were armed with plasma weaponry and were dressed in military uniforms. The machine realised it had wandered in to a resistance bunker, and while not as bad as Skynet, humans were still somewhat of a mystery to this particular machine.

Eventually the noise levels increased with the sounds of multiple humans, talking, coughing and some crying. Civilians and lots of them. The inherent dangerous nature of a crowd made the machine nervous and it quickly sought out the relative safety of a quieter side tunnel, and there it stayed for the next hour simply observing the various people as they passed by. Its curiosity increased with every passing minute and it cautiously made its way up a pipe and perched itself above everyone and moved out from its hiding spot slowly to get a better view.

All the different sights, sounds and smells of the crowd were fascinating to the machine. How so many people could survive and coexist in such a small space and in such squalid surroundings were a source of intrigue for the T-1002. It took in the sight of a soldier helping an elderly woman walk down the tunnel, the look of gratitude on the woman's face was clear as was the look of pride on the young man's. A young couple at the far end of the tunnel caught its eye next, and on the gentle and loving touches and looks they gave each other, despite their surroundings. Eventually her optical sensors locked on a small girl holding a small stuffed animal in her hands. She had red hair that was difficult to see through the many layers of dirt.

She watched with fascination as the little girl seemed to be talking to the inanimate stuffed dog. She moved it around herself as if it were real and alive. She was disrupted from her playtime as a column of troops loudly made their way down the tunnel on their way to the exit hatch. Her face twisted in to one of annoyance and she stood to find a quieter spot in which to play. Her movement was tracked by the free machine as she moved towards it and passed by underneath in to the quiet side tunnel. As she passed by, the Terminator scanned the stuffed animal to ensure that it was indeed incapable of talking to the child. The scans came back conclusive that it was made of synthetic fibres and possessed no potential for communication. The scan also highlighted that the dogs head was hanging rather precariously by very few threads.

The child sat down again mostly in the darkness and resumed playing with her dog when a slight metallic shimmer from above caught her eye. She looked up towards it and stared for a few moments before dismissing it as her imagination playing tricks on her. When she saw the movement again she decided to investigate. While she knew of the dangers of going outside and of the machines, she assumed it would always be safe inside the tunnels. She also didn't know of any machines besides Mrs. Connor that weren't big ugly men. She actually saw Mrs. Connor once, she came in to this bunker with a squad of troops behind her and breezed past the civilians like they weren't there. She looked like she was angry about something and everyone made sure to keep their distance from her. But she certainly was pretty, and if General John liked her, then she liked her too.

The little girl shook her head and reminded herself of where she was and what she was doing. Her eyes refocused on the shimmering mass and she studied it for a moment. The way the dim light reflected off it's shiny surface was mesmerising to her. She reached her hand towards it and the mass recoiled away from her. She then realised that this thing, whatever it was, was alive and moving. Rather than running away in fear and telling the guards about what she'd found, she instead remembered something her daddy once told her about dogs before Judgement day.

She held out her hand, palm up and spoke gently to the mass.

"Hello. My name's Jenny…"

She continued to hold out her hand invitingly but the mass made no effort to move towards her.

"…I won't hurt you, I promise. Just come down"

Slowly but surely the liquid mass snaked its way down the pipe, all the time keeping an eye on Jenny and her outstretched hand. When it reached the bottom of the pipe, it formed itself in to the shape of a biped with no distinguishable features. It had two arms, two legs and a head but that was about it, it also maintained its metallic appearance. Jenny smiled at her ability to coax the mass out from its hiding place, and while she was a little shocked at how it suddenly changed shape like that, she wasn't scared. In fact she was intrigued more than anything.

"What are you?"

The child's bluntness caught the figure off guard, her detailed Skynet files failed to mention about the inquisitive minds of children.

Upon seeing that she wasn't going to get an answer from the strange shiny thing, she sat back down and tried to pick up her stuffed dog. Unfortunately a couple of loose threads caught on something protruding from the ground and the head ripped clean off from the body. Jenny looked down in horror at what had just happened. She suddenly burst out in to uncontrollable sobbing.

Seeing the little girl crying reminded the Terminator of its own experience on the table in the Skynet research facility. It suddenly felt the urge to try and help the crying child, despite the fact that no-one had come to its aid. It slowly walked towards the child, making sure to remain in the shadows as much as possible. When it reached Jenny, it lowered itself down until it appeared to be kneeling and picked up both pieces of the broken toy. It scanned its surroundings for something to repair the damage. After spotting something in a dark corner of the tunnel, it used one of its liquid metal arms to gently raise Jenny's chin up to face her.

Her tears had created a slightly cleaner trench through the layers of caked on dirt and grime. Jenny felt something cold come in to contact with her cheek. She was about to pull away, until she felt the cold object wiping away her hot tears. This strange thing she had encountered was telling her not to cry. As if on queue, her tears dried up and she watched as the silver person held up both pieces of the dog in its arms before slowly moving towards a dark corner of the tunnel.

"Wha, what are you doing?" she managed to ask between the sniffles.

She stood up to follow and settled herself in behind the person and watched as it did something to her dog.

The T-1002's scans had revealed an old and mostly empty medical kit in the corner, obviously lost and forgotten about in the darkness of the tunnels. Of what little remained of its contents, there was in fact a needle and thread. The machine used them to great effect and started expertly stitching the toy back together. When its work was done, it turned back to Jenny and presented the repaired dog to her.

Jenny's eyes lit up at the sight of her repaired toy and she threw herself at her new friend. The machine barely having enough time to solidify its outer shell so that Jenny wouldn't just pass right through her. Jenny's arms wrapped around the machine's 'neck' and she clung on for dear life.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you" she squealed over and over again in delight.

She finally pulled back and looked at her friend with fresh tears and a bright smile on her pretty face. The machine once again reached out to wipe the tears away, not realising that these were tears of happiness. Jenny allowed it to touch her and to comfort her as if it were her own mother.

"Jenny…Jenny where are you?" a voice called from the main tunnel.

"That's my dad, I gotta go…will you be here again tomorrow?" she asked hopefully

Despite the obvious danger staying here for an extended period of time posed, the machine found itself nodding an agreement to its new friend.

"Awesome, I'll see you tomorrow, and thanks again"

As Jenny happily skipped away towards the main tunnel, the machine quickly shifted in to its eel like form again and climbed the pipes to is raised vantage spot. It watched over Jenny as she merrily returned to her father's side and listened in as she hurriedly explained that her dog was now repaired and better than ever. Her father slung his rifle over his shoulder and hoisted his happy little girl up on to his hip before walking away listening to her very fast talking with a smile on his face.

* * *

The next day, well, what passed as day in the tunnels as it was still dark outside, Jenny came running in to the quiet tunnel looking for her new friend. Her father seemed a little confused as to why she chose that particular spot to play in when he waved her off to join his squad.

"Hello, are you here?" she called out in to the darkness.

A slight shimmer in one of the dark corners caught her eye and she happily bounded over to it.

"Hi, I'm glad you came" she said to the bipedal silver shape.

"Me too"

Jenny's eyes grew wide, not only at hearing a voice, but at hearing her own pitch perfect voice emerging from her friend.

"Oh wow, you can talk?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes, I copied your voice…is that okay?"

"Of course it is silly. How do you do that anyway?"

Jenny sat down cross legged across from the machine and watched as the shape did the same, mimicking her posture.

"I've learned to do it recently…" no need to go in to details of breaking Skynet programming "…I can change shape too"

"That is so cool, what shapes can you do?"

The mass held out its metallic arm towards Jenny.

"Give me your hand" it said warmly and invitingly.

Jenny held out her hand and placed it on the outstretched arm. She watched with fascination as the mass changed form to mirror her own appearance. She withdrew her hand in mild shock, but still found herself unable to look away from her doppelganger. Eventually she reached out and touched her duplicates face and felt nothing but skin, it was cold, but it was definitely skin.

"That. Is. Awesome"

"Thanks"

"Do you have a name?"

"I…don't think so"

"Well, we'll have to change that. Hmm, let's see, how about…Katie?"

The machine shook its head.

"Lucy?"

Another shake.

"Emma?"

Shake.

Jenny huffed slightly.

"If you don't pick one soon I'll start calling you Mildred…" she threatened playfully, giggling slightly.

"…How about…"

She suddenly struck upon a brilliant idea, but an upsetting one all the same.

"…How about Amy, it…was my mother's name, before she…died"

Tears started to well up in her eyes at the thought of her lost mother. She couldn't hold them back any longer and they spilled down her cheeks. Amy watched, not really sure what to do when Jenny suddenly threw her arms around her again and sobbed on her shoulder. Amy tentatively brought her arms down and placed them on Jenny's back, returning the hug and allowing her friend to cry herself out. Eventually she pulled back and looked at Amy a little sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, it's just that she only died about a year ago. I still miss her"

"I'll choose a different name if it makes you feel better" Amy offered.

"No…" Jenny said abruptly "…I want you to have it, you're nice like my mom. She used to fix stuff for me too. She was an engineer for General John"

"General John?"

"Yeah, General Connor. He sometimes comes to this bunker, apparently there's something important about this place but nobody told me what it was"

"Oh, okay"

For some reason Amy couldn't understand, when she heard the words General Connor her HUD flashed up a terminate order. She quickly overrode it, after all, what had General Connor done to harm her, he didn't deserve to die.

"Here, I brought you something…" Jenny reached in to her pocket and pulled out her favourite stuffed dog and also a tatty old bear "…for you to play with"

"Play?"

"Yeah, you know, playing, using your imagination? You do know how to do that right?"

"No. I've never tried before. How do you do it?"

"Well, I dunno really. You just think what you want them to do, and then you pretend they're doing it. Like this…Hello Billy Bear, how are you today…"

She picked up her bear and walked it closer to the dog.

"…I'm fine Rex my friend, would you like to play a game with me? Sure I would Rex"

Amy watched with fascination as Jenny moved the two inanimate objects around and spoke for them as if they were real.

_Pretend, Definition - speak and act so as to make it appear that something is the case when in fact it is not._

Amy analysed the definition of the word and realised that her tactical systems could be used to simulate things that hadn't happened yet. They were designed to be used to calculate angles of attack, but she saw no reason why they couldn't be used for this purpose. She slowly reached out and picked up the ragged old bear and brought it up to her face and started talking to it.

"Hello Billy Bear. My name's Amy, nice to meet you"

* * *

For the next few days, Jenny came to this tunnel to play with her friend and Amy would always be there waiting for her.

"Oh wow, you changed your hair"

Indeed Amy had changed her hair. It was now in her usual blonde pigtails.

"I have. I saw a girl walk past here and I thought it looked pretty. Do you like it?"

She swung her head around dramatically to try and swish her hair for Jenny to see. Jenny giggled at the sight before responding.

"I love it. It's really nice"

"Thank you. Oh, I see Rex and Billy have come to play with us again today"

* * *

Jenny and Amy continued to play together for several weeks. Jenny taught Amy several games including Patty cake and Hide 'n' Seek which was always interesting in a resistance bunkers tunnels. Jenny had called 'no fair' when it eventually came out that Amy had been blending in with the ceiling for the best part of a day. Boy was she mad about that one.

One day after playing with Jenny, a large squad of troops marched by on their way to the surface. They were seemingly excited about something and a lot of them were talking about meeting General Connor for the first time.

Curiosity got the better of Amy. She had to see this General Connor and find out why Skynet wanted him terminated so badly. She changed back in to her eel like form and covertly followed the troops out of the bunker and across the wasteland. Eventually they arrived at what appeared to be a heavily fortified installation with plenty of guards, both human and machine. Somebody important must be inside.

Unfortunately there was far too much security for Amy to bypass, not to mention the huge array of video cameras dotted around the perimeter. With an internal sigh of defeat, Amy turned around and headed to what she considered to be her new home.

After the short journey, she found something she wasn't expecting. The hatch leading to the tunnels was wide open with smoke rising from inside. She immediately picked up her pace, fearful of what was happening inside. She entered the tunnel interior expecting to find the two guards. She did, but unfortunately she found their corpses laying on the ground. Sounds of screaming echoed through the tunnels accompanied by plasma weapon fire. Amy quickly made her way to her usual spot, hoping beyond hope that Jenny would be smart enough to try and seek her out. What she found when she arrived brought her to her metaphorical knees.

Jenny lay on the floor struggling to breathe, a plasma round had gone clean though her flank, carving a large chunk out of her body. Amy's systems alerted her to her friends imminent expiry. She quickly took on her usual form and rushed to her side and cradled her head on her lap. She gently stroked her cheek to try and wake her up.

"Jenny, Jenny it's me, wake up…please"

Jenny's eyes fluttered open to the sight of her friend and she smiled.

"Hi. You…you weren't…here" she struggled to say through her ragged breaths.

"I'm sorry. I, I shouldn't have left you here alone"

Despite her pain, Jenny smiled.

"It's, It's okay…my daddy…was with…me"

"That's good, I'm glad. Jenny…you don't have long"

Jenny struggled to bring her hand up and placed it on Amy's arm, she did her very best to pull her in to a hug. Amy helped her and pulled her in to a hug instead.

"I'm sorry"

Her sensors detected Jenny pulling her last breath, and then her heart stopped.

Amy gently lowered her friends head down to the ground and lovingly stroked her hair back in to place. Then her face turned sour. She stood and shifted back in to her metallic biped form and marched out of the tunnel. She came face to face with the hulking form of a triple eight endoskeleton after her first few steps in to the main tunnel. She didn't waste any time in spearing it through the chest, destroying its power source with one thrust of her blade like arm. She watched with satisfaction as the Skynet machine crumpled to the ground in a heap. She walked past it, only stopping to stomp on its skull and destroy its chip.

Fuelled by anger, sadness and hatred for Skynet, she carried on through the bunker destroying every machine she could find. She surprised herself with the sense of satisfaction she took from each and every kill, even letting out a blood curdling mechanical scream when the last endo dropped to the ground. Her CPU displayed numerous warning messages in her HUD about the possibility of an overload and a forced shutdown, but she didn't care. When the last endo fell to the ground, she quickly made her way back to Jenny's side and retook her little girl form. She kneeled down next to her friend and waited, silently watching over her body.

* * *

"Squad one, secure the lab. Squad two, check all these endo's, I don't want any surprises. Squad three, start searching for survivors. Cameron, please see if you can find out what destroyed all these machines. Move out"

The squads quickly dispersed to their assigned duties. When Connor gives you an order, you don't argue with it. Unless of course your name is Cameron Connor, then you can argue all you like.

"John, I should stay with you in squad one. It may not be safe" she whispered quietly in his ear away from the rest of his men.

"Cameron…" John grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles, their wedding rings glistening in the dim light of the tunnel "…I'll be fine. Now please, go find out what did this"

She reluctantly pulled away from his grasp and set off on her mission, still lamenting how cavalier he could be sometimes. She reached the first downed endo, keeping her plasma rifle raised, just in case. John over the years had encouraged her to put more effort in to her own self preservation, citing the reason, 'I'm sick of patching you up'. While she knew it was in jest, she was actually quite concerned that he enjoyed taking care of her when she was damaged. She dismissed it however as him simply caring for her wellbeing and not that he took some sort of perverse pleasure out of it.

She crouched down next to the endo and inspected the damage to its chest plating. It was pierced by a sharp object travelling at an incredible velocity. She'd only ever seen depleted uranium slugs from her shotgun cause this sort of damage to a Terminator's coltan alloy. But this entry mark was far too long, thin and precise to be from a gun. It was more like something was thrust towards this machine with great accuracy. She hefted her plasma rifle up again and carried on to the next downed machine. This one bore a similar hole on its chest, only this time the blow came from behind and with multiple strikes this time. Whatever did this got more and more careless with its strikes, as if losing self control. She raised her hand up to her ear and pressed the communicate button on her headset and started talking on John and hers private radio channel.

"John, be careful. Something destroyed these machines by itself. It appears to be unable to completely control itself"

Cameron didn't wait for a reply and instead moved further in to the tunnel until something caught her eye. Down a dark side tunnel, a small girl kneeled down on the ground. She looked down at another girl, deceased. Cameron carefully approached and scanned the girl.

_Scanning, standby…_

_No organic material detected…_

_Subject not human, proceed with caution…_

Cameron pointed her rifle at the other machine, ready to fire if necessary.

Amy looked up at the weapon currently pointed at her and dismissed it almost as quickly.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Cameron asked from behind her rifle.

She received no reply and moved in a little closer. She saw tears staining the cheeks of the dead girl and saw the look of sadness on the machines face. She crouched down so as to appear less threatening, but still kept her rifle raised.

"What happened to her?" she inquired.

Amy looked up at Cameron and examined her for a moment. She saw the cyborg was making no movements to harm her.

"One of them killed her. Are you here to do the same to me?" she asked looking pointedly at the rifle still pointed at her.

Cameron lowered it slightly but kept her finger on the trigger.

"No. I'm not one of them. Who are you and why are you here?"

Amy looked down sadly at Jenny and stroked her red hair again.

"I'm a Skynet experiment, and this is Jenny, she was my friend"

Cameron came to the conclusion that this machine meant no harm to her or anyone else. Just how she came to this decision she didn't know. John would have called it a hunch, something which she never really understood until now. She stood up, lowered her rifle and extended her hand towards Amy.

"Come with me if you want to live"

Amy looked from her outstretched hand and back to Jenny.

"I won't leave her here"

Cameron raised her hand to her ear again and pressed the communicate button.

"Squad three, this is Cameron. I need a stretcher bearer at my location…" she took her headset off and held her hand out to Amy again "…we'll take her with us, she'll be safe"

* * *

Amy looked up from her hands to Catherine who surprisingly had a look of concern on her face.

"We have an agreement"

* * *

**Well there it is. I hope you all enjoyed it.**

**I know this isn't exactly full on TSCC, but I've been looking forward to writing this chapter since before I wrote chapter 1 and I really enjoyed writing it.**

**I apologise if Amy isn't your favourite character and I'm sorry that there's not a lot of Jameron stuff in this chapter. But Amy is one of my favourites, but I'm allowed to be biased, after all she is my character! :)**

**Also I hope it's come through since she was introduced, but I'm trying to relay that Amy is THE most advanced machine Skynet has ever created. Her emotional responses and intelligence blows Cameron out of the water. Hopefully now you can all see why she is the way she is.**

**Thanks**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi guys,**

**As always thanks to reviewers meanoldmoe, olischulu, Cartman-2029, XxDeathStarxX(I wish you'd enable PM's on your account so I could reply to your lovely reviews), The1Russter, Kaotic2, gypsy069, ElusiveSanity, jojobevco, Icemanss, ljm, CloudyShadows, Akaryd, Nyrki, Becky(sign up for an account already!), fullhans1, .DeViLz_SpAwN., Dirt_Rider_712, Metal4lifex, Dragon_Seraphin, jock_wizard and PuRiFiRe2027.**

**Also thanks to anyone who has reviewed previous chapters. You guys are amazing.**

**

* * *

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"Oh, hello again Ms. Connor"

Before Weaver had even finished her sentence, Sarah had her Glock aimed squarely at the chest of the liquid metal machine. Weaver merely dismissed it with an amused stare.

"Really now, is that any way to treat a house guest?"

"House guest? What the hell are you talking about?" Sarah asked, her heart racing.

"Unless I'm very much mistaken, I am a guest in your house. Does that not make me a house guest?" Weaver asked smugly and coolly.

"Where's John?" Sarah asked urgently. Weaver tilted her head towards the ceiling.

"He's upstairs playing with his girlfriend and my daughter" Sarah was too riled up to notice the term girlfriend creeping in. Just as she was about to bound up the stairs, Amy emerged from…somewhere.

"Hi Sarah" she said much too happily for the situation.

"Hi Sarah? What do you mean, hi sarah? In case you haven't noticed there is a T-1001 in our living room, sitting on my couch and drinking some of my favourite coffee"

"Yeah, and there's a T-1002 standing right in front of you, but you don't hear me complaining do you?" she flashed Sarah a bright grin. It didn't work as planned however as Sarah was far too wound up to be taken in by her unending cuteness. She'd had enough.

"Alright, cut the shit. Why is that thing here and why don't you seem too bothered by it, and where the fuck is everyone else?" her grip on the Glock tightened with every word causing her knuckles to go white.

If Sarah had been paying enough attention she would have seen the look of hurt flash across Amy's face before it quickly disappeared. Also she may have taken notice of the annoyed look she was now getting from the unstoppable killing machine sitting on her couch. However she didn't notice either occurrence and continued with her anger.

"Sarah, she is here to apologise to me and to talk to John. He's upstairs with Cameron playing with Savannah, Weaver's daughter"

"Daughter?"

"Yes Ms. Connor. My daughter Savannah, she's the light of my life and I'd be lost without her" Catherine said in a flat, emotionless voice.

"She's not here to hurt anyone Sarah…" she looked pointedly at Catherine "…besides, I wouldn't let her" she said menacingly.

For some reason this made Sarah feel better and she lowered the gun before finally tucking it back in to her waistband. She gave both Weaver and Amy a glare before heading to the stairs.

* * *

John stared deep in to Cameron's eyes as she stared in to his, as if she was looking in to his very soul with her piercing gaze. Their faces were not even an inch apart as perspiration slicked John's forehead. Her cheeks had a radiant flush to them and her fake breathing grew deeper and more ragged with every passing moment. The exertion of the past few minutes caught up to John as his arm nearly slipped. Her sturdy weight beneath him however was a reassuring presence that would not let him fall this easily. He regained his composure momentarily only to be taken in by the feel of her hair tickling his hands as it fanned out beneath her. Oh how radiantly beautiful she looked in this moment. He resisted the urge to close his eyes in order to fully enjoy the feel of her body pressed so closely to his, instead choosing to take in the beauty of her chocolate brown eyes. He looked down slightly at her glisteningly moist lips, slightly parted in anticipation of what was to come.

"Are you ready?" he asked her in the gentlest voice he'd ever spoken.

At her tentative and hesitant nod, he took a deep breath and nodded.

"Left hand green" Savannah shouted at them from across the room.

Cameron gracefully and effortlessly moved her left hand to the closest green spot available on the Twister mat and returned her gaze to John with a triumphant grin on her face.

"Your turn" she said with a smile.

John shook his head while grinning like an idiot, a sweaty and uncoordinated idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. They were now positioned with Cameron beneath him facing upwards and he was on all fours perched precariously above her.

"You know this isn't fair don't you? You sort of have an advantage over me"

"Do you mean with my lithe, supple body?" she asked innocently and sweetly, but still with a mischievous glint in her eye.

John was determined not to give in to her sudden seductive mood. He could have sworn she was trying to give him a case of permanent blue balls with her constant teasing and was determined to try and fight back a little. They were positioned in a way that hid their faces from Savannah, and she was too busy humming away happily to the music coming from the stereo in the room to pay much attention to them anyway. John had subtly turned on some music when he heard the first signs of the argument emanating from downstairs in order to try and avoid upsetting poor Savannah.

"Well, your amazing body does help. I guess I'm just no match for anything you can do physically, but what about mentally?"

"Mentally?"

"Yeah, how are your concentration levels Cameron?"

She looked at him like he'd just told her his hair was blonde.

"John, my concentration levels far exceed any umph…"

She was quickly and efficiently silenced as John pressed his lips to hers. Her thought processes took a moment to catch up before she started kissing back. Although she was confused as to his motives, it didn't mean she wasn't going to enjoy the sudden bout of passion. She enjoyed it all the more when his lips found their way to her jawline and trailed kisses down to her neck. As he began sucking and nibbling on what would have been her pulse point had she actually possessed a pulse, she felt a gasp escape her lips involuntarily. Despite her obvious strengths, she found herself unable to fully control her bodily functions during these new romantic embraces. John's lips worked their way upwards and he nibbled very gently on her earlobe, eliciting another gasp. He eventually worked his way back to her lips where her tongue awaited his greedily. She allowed him to take control of the kiss and found herself moaning in to his mouth. Suddenly her HUD started flashing warnings of a significant shift in her balance and she found herself tumbling to the ground in a very surprised heap.

"Yaaaay, John wins" Savannah jumped up and clapped her hands happily.

John meanwhile was unable to control the grin that had quickly formed on his face at thinking about how Cameron's face had gone from aroused to shocked in the space of a second.

"Yaay, I win" he whispered much quieter in to Cameron's ear than Savannah's squealing.

Cameron tilted her head to regard him for a moment. Had she really been played like that just so he could win a game of Twister?

"That was not very nice of you John Connor"

"Yeah, you're right, but it was funny…" he kissed her again, gently and lovingly this time "…and you kinda deserved it"

"JOHN…"

Sarah spoke up abruptly from her position in the doorway.

_Oh shit._

If there's one thing you don't want to be caught doing by Sarah Connor if your name is John Connor, it's being caught lying on top of your machine protector in a crumpled heap while whispering in to her ear and passionately kissing her.

_How much of that did she see?_

"…We need to talk, kitchen, when you're ready" the anger clearly dripping from that statement.

John quickly extricated himself from Cameron and stood up just in time to catch a glimpse of Sarah's back as she headed back downstairs. Realising she wasn't hanging around for a conversation, he turned back to Cameron to find her on the floor still, looking significantly less worried by what had just happened than he did. He shook his head a little and suddenly remembered his manners. He held out his hand to help her up off the floor which she readily accepted. She placed her hand in his and allowed herself to be pulled up by him. Actually she used the servos in her legs to propel herself up, but she'd never tell him that. She'd observed over the years that human males like to be seen as physically stronger than the people around them, especially around attractive females. Despite having just been beaten by him in a game of physical skill and briefly considering making him pull her up using his own strength, she acquiesced to her man's primal desire to be the dominant male.

"Ooooh, you're in trouble" Savannah teased from her perch on the bed.

"How come you didn't tell me she was standing there?" John asked, still slightly in a panic about how much of their encounter his mother actually saw.

"Because I didn't know she was there"

_Obviously._

"What? How could you not know?" he asked incredulously. After all, she could usually hear him waking up from all the way down in the kitchen on a morning.

"I don't need to remind you that I was a little distracted by your tongue all over my neck" she deadpanned.

"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry…" he said sheepishly.

He snaked an arm around Cameron's waist and looked over at Savannah.

"…Come on squirt, let's go watch Johnny boy get his a…butt chewed off"

Savannah scrunched up her face at him for a moment before hopping down off the bed and latching on to his free hand.

* * *

Sarah had swiftly organised the kitchen in to a makeshift courtroom. She stood near the stove facing the table and the solitary chair behind it.

Cameron was first up in the dock.

"Just what in the hell were you thinking when you left John alone with that thing in there?"

Cameron tilted her head and looked at her future mother in law with a weird look on her face.

"He wasn't alone, Amy was there" she clarified.

Sarah sighed and ran her hands through her hair.

_Like talking to a brick wall._

"That's not my point. My point is…" she didn't get the chance to continue her statement as Cameron cut her off.

"What is your point Sarah? John is alone with her in the living room now. As long as we're not counting Amy any more, you have left your son alone with a T-1001"

"But, Amy's…"

"I'm not an idiot Sarah. No matter what you think of me, I always have John's best interests at heart"

She thought she'd made her point quite well. Evidently Sarah didn't agree as she stepped menacingly closer to the table.

"At heart? Really? At Heart?" Sarah scoffed and smiled slightly "Don't you think there's something wrong with that statement Cameron, or are you not a heartless machine?"

Cameron's patience was quickly running out. For some reason Sarah just seemed to grate on her when she was in her 'I'm the boss of everything' mood. As usual her CPU came up with a way to shut her up efficiently that didn't involve physical violence.

"You once referred to me as the tin man, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum. In the story the tin man wanted a heart from the wizard, it turned out he already had one. Sarah, I know the story, and I know it's John's favourite…"

She paused for a few moments to make sure her words were being digested by Sarah. Satisfied they were, she continued.

"…I am more similar to the tin man than you might think. I may have a more efficient chassis than he does…I don't rust. But I do care about things, John being the primary example. I care about you Sarah, and I care about Amy…Derek not so much. I may not have a heart as you think of it, but I care more than you know. That is my heart Sarah, and believe me when I tell you that I have John's best interests at my heart"

Sarah was stunned, and truth be told, a little scared at the reaction she'd received from the cyborg siting in front of her. She'd never been this defiant before and she quite clearly didn't like the suggestion that she didn't care. Despite what Sarah wanted to believe, her own heart was telling her to accept what Cameron was telling her as the truth, no matter how unbelievable it sounded coming from a machine. Whether it be programming or just some quirk she'd developed, Cameron did truly care about the things precious to her.

"Go…and send Amy in please Cameron" Sarah asked in a quiet and somewhat defeated sounding voice.

_Wow, she called me Cameron…and said please. I wasn't expecting that._

Cameron carefully stood and did as requested. She took a last glance at Sarah before she exited the kitchen and entered the living room, taking a seat next to John on the couch. He noticed the odd look on her face and discreetly gave her lower back a comforting rub. She smiled in return before turning to face Amy.

"Sarah would like to speak with you now Amy"

Amy nodded and stood up from the floor where she'd been engaged in a whispered and giggly conversation with Savannah. She walked towards the kitchen and took a seat at the table facing Sarah.

"Hi Sarah" she said brightly, either misreading or completely ignoring the tense situation.

Sarah laughed a little to relieve the tension and smiled fondly at Amy who was still clutching a stuffed bear in her hands.

"Hi Amy…Um, are you okay with the um…her, being here?" Sarah asked awkwardly, remembering that the pair apparently had a history.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it now. I guess I'll have to be from now on"

"Oh, and why is that?"

Amy realised she'd just sort of dropped John in it. Her CPU played out many possible scenarios for her to wiggle her way out of a Sarah Connor grilling. She selected the most likely plan to succeed and ran with it.

"Oh, um, I'll let John explain it to you"

"Explain what to me?"

"Nothing" she smiled sweetly and hopped down off the chair. She walked over to Sarah and threw her arms around her waist.

Sarah held her hands up in the air in surprise. She hadn't been hugged by anyone but John for the longest time and she kinda missed it. Slowly she brought her hands down and rested them both on Amy's back, awkwardly returning the hug. A smug smile formed on Amy's face when she felt the contact.

_I'm off the hook…I'm good._

Amy pulled back and smiled up at Sarah before turning and leaving the room without a word, leaving a confused and slightly heart warmed Sarah behind.

Amy entered the living room and squeezed herself in between John and Cameron on the couch. At John's questioning glare she rolled her eyes.

"You're up in front of the judge now Johnny boy"

Her smug grin reminded him so much of Cameron in her early days whenever she'd accomplished something for the first time. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen and the woman he most respected waiting to pass judgement on him. He was stopped in his tracks when, surprisingly, Catherine spoke.

"Good luck Mr. Connor…I'm sure you'll need it"

Her comment earned a snicker from Savannah and an amused expression from Cameron.

_I so didn't need that._

He straightened his body up and mentally prepared himself up for what was to come. After all, catching your son on top of a gorgeous girl while an unstoppable killing machine makes itself comfortable in your living room is bound to be a traumatic experience for anyone. He entered and took a seat at the table and looked at his mothers back as she faced away making a cup of coffee. She let him sweat for a couple of minutes before finally turning to face him. She took a seat opposite him and curled her hands around her steaming mug.

"So…"

"So…"

Both Connors eyed each other up for a moment before the corner of Sarah's lips quirked up slightly. John replied in kind and pretty soon they were both grinning at each other like idiots.

"So…what do you have up your sleeve?"

John feigned indignation and placed his hand on his chest as if to say 'who, me?'.

"Now what makes you think I'd have something up my sleeve?"

"Hmm, let's see, maybe it's because I'm your mother and I can read you like a book…"

"Yeah well"

"…And maybe it's because you've been playing chess since you were five. You always have a plan, so come on, what is it?"

John smirked at his, smarter than he predicted, mother.

* * *

John and Sarah emerged from the kitchen looking in a much better mood than when they went in. They re-entered the living room and Sarah took a seat on the chair opposite Weaver while John sat on the couch next to Cameron. He almost had to physically force her back in to the seat when she made to stand by his side in her usual bodyguard stance. He shot her a slightly amused look before turning to look at Weaver.

"So…what's the plan?"

"I believe now is a good opportunity for you to meet John Henry"

A delighted squeal from the vicinity of Savannah shocked all the other occupants of he room besides Weaver as the little red headed girl jumped up off the floor and started clapping happily.

"Mom, can I go see him too, pleeeeeeease?"

Her adorable puppy dog expression would work on most mothers…but then again Catherine Weaver isn't most mothers.

"Savannah, patience. John and John Henry have much to discuss, you'll have to wait your turn…"

Savannah slumped back down to the rug with a pout and placed her chin in her hands sulkily. The situation wasn't helped by Amy pulling a 'ha ha, you got told off' face behind her back, causing John to snicker quietly and earn himself a glare from both Sarah and Cameron.

"…Thank you. Now, as I was saying, I believe John Henry is also eager to meet you. He has heard a lot about you, the legend that is John Connor"

John couldn't help but grin like a Cheshire cat.

"Legend huh? Awesome. When do we leave?"

"We?" both Weaver and Sarah asked in unison. John didn't know who to look at and settled for flitting between the two.

"Um, yeah. When do me and Cameron leave to go meet John Henry?"

That statement brought an incredulous stare from Sarah and an equally surprised look from Cameron.

"You and Cameron? Since when do you take her instead of me?" Sarah asked impatiently.

_Dammit mom, did you have to be so convincing?_

"Mom, I'm taking her for several reasons. First off is that she has a hard drive for a memory. She can remember every detail of the meetings…"

"It's not a hard drive" Cameron stated, a little petulantly, making John chuckle a little.

"…Well, CPU, whatever. The point is that anything that you hear you remember, right?"

She nodded while still having a slightly sour expression.

"Okay then, where was I? Oh yeah, the second reason she's coming with me is that she could last a hell of a lot longer in a scrape than you mom. No offence by the way…"

He watched as his mother's expression softened slightly. He breathed a sigh of relief until he turned to Catherine who was currently sporting a rather deadly expression. He quickly sought to change that.

"…Not that I'm expecting trouble, but you never know what me right run in to on the way there and back…"

Catherine's death glare softened and John once again breathed easily.

"…And the third reason is that we're going to be relatively alone in that place. I grew out of wanting to go on a vacation with my Mommy years ago. I'd rather go with a friend like any normal guy my age"

Sarah didn't fail to notice that he once again referred to Cameron as his friend. While it still grated on her, she remembered her promise to him to try and treat her a little better. She also noticed the surprised look on almost all the rooms occupants. But what really struck her was the comment about him being a normal guy. She reluctantly nodded.

"Alright then, now that that's settled. We'll pack a few things and we'll head over to Zeira Corp. We should be there later today"

He stood up as a signal that the meeting was over and was quickly followed by Cameron then Catherine.

"Excellent, I look forward to seeing you there"

Surprisingly Catherine held her hand out for John to shake. The creepy look on her face quite frankly scared Cameron. It didn't however phase John as he confidently reached out and gave the liquid metal machine's hand a firm shake under Cameron's watchful gaze.

"Me too" he kept his reply short and curt.

"Come along then Savannah, say goodbye to Amy and we'll be going"

Savannah and Amy stood from the floor.

"Come play with me some time?" Savannah asked tentatively.

"Of course" Amy replied with a smile.

Savannah smiled brightly before jumping over to Catherine and latching on to her hand. She led them both out of the house with Cameron closing the door behind them. She took up a position at the window and watched as the very expensive looking black car pulled out of the driveway. She turned back in to the living room to find her boyfriend and his mother locked in a staring contest with determined looks on their faces.

"Amy, Cameron, would you give us a minute please?" Sarah asked through gritted teeth.

Both cyborgs shuffled off quietly, slightly fearful of what a pissed off Sarah Connor might do to them, or rather attempt to do to them.

When they were out of earshot, human earshot anyway, as both Cameron and Amy had learned a long time ago to turn their auditory sensors down whenever a Connor asked for a minute. Both John and Sarah's stares dropped and they smiled.

"Well done" John said cheerfully.

"Really, too old to be with your mommy huh, I'll remember that next time you want some ironing done…smartass"

John chuckled a little and surprisingly placed his arm around Sarah's waist lovingly.

"Yeah like I care, I'll just get Cameron to do it…so, you know what your job is when we're gone right?"

"I do. I'll call Derek after you leave and I'll take Amy along for backup. An eight year old girl isn't very intimidating to these sorts of people after all"

John smiled and nodded, turning suddenly serious.

"Okay mom…be careful out there okay?"

She pulled back from him and looked at him a little confused for a moment.

"Sure, of course I will. I always do"

"Good…I love you mom"

"I love you too John"

The mother and son embraced in the living room, surprisingly with John squeezing tighter than Sarah. Then Sarah suddenly realised what all the sudden affection was for. This was only the second time since Pescadero that he would be separated from her for more than a couple of days. The first being when he visited Presidio Alto, but on that occasion he had Derek with him. This time he was going without any family.

Sarah squeezed him tighter and rubbed his back lovingly.

_I'll never let you go._

_

* * *

_

"Cameron come on. We're only gonna be gone for a few days, how much stuff could you possibly want to take?…You can't take the whole weapons cache by the way"

John hefted a sports bag over his shoulder with a couple of spare t-shirts in and the barest essentials of toiletries. He had a feeling Cameron would come out of her room carrying half her considerable wardrobe in a couple of suitcases along with a wide assortment of anti-terminator weaponry. He dropped his bag down outside her door and knocked before entering and quickly turning away again in embarrassment.

"Um, Cameron, what are you doing"

Cameron stopped what she was doing and walked over to John. She turned him around by placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling at him.

"I'm packing"

"Uh, yeah, I can see that…"

He looked around at the multitude of clothes rather untidily strewn across the room. Although usually considered to be the neatest person he knew, Cameron certainly did have a tendency to get messy when she had a mission to prepare for.

"…But what were you doing when I came in?" he asked as he shuffled from one foot to the other.

"Oh, thank you for explaining. I was choosing which underwear I wanted to pack…"

She resumed holding several different pairs of bra's and panties up against her fully clothed body while looking in her full length dress mirror.

_When the hell did she get that?_

"…Which do you like best John?" she asked far too innocently for John's taste.

"Well, I, uh…"

"I like the purple…" she held up a matching purple set against herself and looked at him "…but the red is pleasant too" she put down the purple and picked up a red lacy number this time.

John was vaguely aware of his mouth hanging open and he shut it with a clomp. He swallowed nervously and moved his mouth to try and make some words come out. He failed miserably.

"I'll take them both. Is that okay with you?" she smiled that sweet smile she knew he loved so much.

_This is definitely payback for beating her at Twister. Well two can play at that game._

He strode over to her confidently and grabbed the underwear out of her hands and threw them on to the bed before latching his lips on to hers passionately. One hand laced its way through her hair while the other rested on the small of her back. He felt her respond by kissing him back and grinding her body against his. He gave her hair a light tug and tilted her head back to give him access to her neck. His lips quickly started sucking, licking and kissing their way down her neck and across her shoulder. His heart rate increased and he felt his self control rapidly slipping away. He quickly took the hand that was tangled in her hair and trailed it down the front of her body while he brought his lips back up to meet hers. His hand passed down in the valley between her breasts and over her taught stomach until it came to rest very gently between her legs. He knew this had the desired effect when he felt her quiver against him. With his hand still resting in place he pulled back and stared at her lustful expression. He placed a final soft kiss on her lips.

"Yeah, both works for me" he said brightly before pulling away completely and leaving the room, stopping only to call over his shoulder.

"Come on Princess, we don't have all day"

Cameron stared at the door in complete and utter shock that her plan to tease him with her underwear had failed. She also found she was quickly becoming annoyed with his apparent ability to make her completely lose control of herself while in his embrace. Most of all though she found herself disappointed that he'd stopped when he did.

* * *

John climbed in to the drivers seat of the truck with a smug grin on his face. He'd successfully managed to subvert Cameron's devious plan to tease him even more and had even snuck in a little make out time for himself. As he sat waiting for the aforementioned cyborg to put in an appearance he glanced in to the back seat to make sure his bag was there. When he turned back he caught sight of Cameron coming towards him with her own fairly small bag in her hand. What caught his eye though was the fact that she appeared to have changed her clothes in the short time since their little encounter. She now sported what appeared to be the shortest denim skirt ever made by human kind. He however wasn't an idiot and knew exactly why she'd chosen to wear it.

_Damn, this is gonna be a loooooong drive._

She strode up to the back door of the truck, opened the door and very precisely placed her bag on the back seat next to John's. She closed the rear door, opened the front and climbed in to the passenger seat. She didn't even spare a glance in his direction as she carefully buckled her seat belt and waited for him to drive. John would've thought she was pissed off with him were it not for the merest hint of a smile dancing across her lips.

* * *

Sarah watched from the front window as John pulled out of the driveway in the truck with Cameron in the passenger seat. The broad grin on his face told her that he would be enjoying his time away from her and with Cameron far too much for her taste. She also knew she couldn't do a damn thing about it. She turned away from the window with a sigh and plopped herself down on the couch and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again her vision was filled with the sight of Amy standing in front of her with her hands behind her back and an innocent expression on her adorable face.

"Um, hi?"

"Hi, do you have a minute?"

"I guess"

"Good"

Amy hopped up on the couch next to Sarah and started playing with her hair.

"Did you want to talk about something?" Sarah asked, thoroughly confused.

"Oh, um, I'm just thinking about things, you know, the future"

"Do you…miss it?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"A little…I miss John and Cammy a lot"

_Cammy?_

"What do you mean, they're still here in this time"

"Yeah, but they're not the same. Although they're getting there"

"Getting there?"

Amy rolled her eyes dramatically. _Come on Sarah, take the hint._

"Yeah…they…him and her…getting there…" she nodded encouragingly with her head tilted and her eyes wide.

Sarah scrunched up her face in confusion at what she was trying to tell her…and then it suddenly clicked. The subtle touches, the shared smiles, the devotion to one another. Her face went from confusion to a mixture of horror and anger in a flash.

"You, you mean they're…together?" she asked, barely able to force the words out of her mouth.

_Finally._

"Yeah Sarah, they're together. They even have the rings to prove it"

"RINGS?"

Sarah practically exploded off the couch and began hunting for her cell phone frantically. When it didn't immediately appear, she started ranting to herself.

"God damn fucking phone…where the fuck…dammit John…stupid mother…fucking bitch…my son…I'll show…"

If Amy weren't so concerned about Sarah's wellbeing she would have taken amusement from her verbal diarrhoea. However as Sarah grew more and more frantic and violent, she became concerned for her safety.

"Sarah, please calm down" she asked in a quiet and gentle voice.

"CALM DOWN? HOW THE FUCK CAN I CALM DOWN? MY SON IS OUT THERE WITH HIS FUTURE ROBOT WIFE AND YOU'RE ASKING ME TO CALM DOWN?"

_Wait, what? What did that mean?_

"Sarah, you know that Cameron would never harm John"

"Oh really…" Sarah walked up to Amy who still sat on the couch and stood right in front of her, looking down at her "…and I'm just supposed to believe that?"

Amy tilted her head in confusion, a gesture she picked up from Cameron over the years.

"She's programmed to protect him, and now she loves him. She'd never hurt him…you know that"

"She's gone bad before" Sarah reasoned before continuing her hunt for her cell phone.

Amy examined Sarah for a moment and analysed her actions.

_She knows deep down that Cameron wouldn't harm John, so why bring it up? She can probably even accept that Cameron loves John. So what's set her off like this?_

"Sarah…John knows what he's doing" she ventured.

It must have struck a nerve as Sarah stopped her search abruptly and wheeled around to face Amy. She tried to put on her best death glare and moved her mouth in an effort to make words come out. Neither happened. A small tear drop formed in the corner of her eye and threatened to spill. As quickly as her face went from angry to upset, it changed back to angry again.

"He has no idea what he's doing"

With that she turned away and headed for the kitchen. She returned with her favourite shotgun and the box of depleted uranium rounds they kept in the cutlery drawer for Terminator related emergencies. She set the box on the living room table and proceeded to empty the buckshot shells from the gun. When she loaded her first DU round, Amy spoke.

"Sarah…don't do this…"

Sarah ignored her and carried on loading her shotgun, her face getting redder with every passing moment.

"Please?"

Sarah heard the slight crack in Amy's voice and stopped to look up at her. She studied Amy's sad looking face for a moment and noted how it reminded her of Cameron's puppy dog expression.

_Cameron…_

Her face steeled itself once again and she cocked the shotgun menacingly.

"Try and stop me"

"I don't want to, but I will"

"Yeah right"

With that she turned and stalked off towards the front door. Her progress was halted when she felt something wrap around her hand which was holding the gun. She looked back to find a long metallic tentacle emerging from what used to be Amy's arm. She followed it with her eyes until they reached her face.

"Please Sarah…I won't ask again"

Sarah tried to yank her arm away from her grasp, but she succeeded only in moving a couple of inches and was forced to watch the shotgun fly out of her grasp and land a couple of feet in front of her. She tried to make a move to get to it when she felt another tentacle wrap around her other hand. But such was her rage and determination that she carried on regardless. Amy struggled to hold on to an irate Sarah with her significantly reduced weight and found herself being tugged along slightly. Her CPU quickly formulated a plan and she launched herself at Sarah's back and sent both of them tumbling to the ground. While Sarah continued to reach for the shotgun, Amy took the opportunity to revert to her liquid metal form completely and spread herself over Sarah's body up to her shoulders and re-solidified, effectively pinning a still struggling Sarah in place. She continued to fight however and Amy was forced to spread herself higher up her body until only the top of her head was showing from beneath liquid metal. Sarah continued to fight for several moments until her outstretched arm suddenly went limp.

Amy immediately grew concerned that she'd accidentally injured Sarah when she suddenly felt her start to shake underneath her mass. A small sobbing noise emanated from beneath her and Amy knew the fight was over. As Sarah continued to cry, Amy reformed most of her mass back in to her usual form, leaving only her tentacle like arms wrapped around Sarah. When her face had reformed, she stared at the back of Sarah's head as her body continued to be racked by sobbing. She slowly and gently laid her head down in between Sarah's shoulder blades and tightened her arms around her body, letting her friend take comfort in her protective arms.

* * *

For the last twenty minutes, John had stubbornly kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. He knew if he looked to his right he'd probably end up crashing the truck and killing himself. That was because for the last twenty minutes, Cameron had been doing everything in her power to get him to pay attention to her.

At first it was only a few little things, like playing with the radio and adjusting the height of her window until it was just right. But then she'd moved on to some less subtle things, like playing with her hair, reapplying her make up in the visor mirror, adjusting her top and even playing with the gear stick in a very flirtatious manner. But none of it had worked, John had managed to resist the temptation to turn and gawk. He would win this round, he was sure of it. Just as he was starting to relax and actually considered starting up a conversation, he heard a tiny little squeak emanating from his right.

He stole a quick glance while pretending to check for traffic and saw that she was currently arched back in her seat with her arms stretched above her head. She seemed to be trying to stretch her non existent muscles out and the tiny little squeak he heard was when she reached her full stretch. He noticed the way her full upper body arched back, causing her shirt to rise slightly, showing off a small sliver of her perfectly toned abdomen. His eyes trailed lower to that skirt. _Wow…that skirt._ It certainly didn't leave much to the imagination and John found himself staring at her.

"John"

"Hmm?"

"The road"

John looked back to the road and had to swerve slightly to avoid the parked car and the quite clearly pissed off guy trying to cross the road with his dog on its leash. Once he'd regained his composure he looked over to Cameron and found her smiling brightly at him.

_Dammit, you win this round._

He slumped back in to his seat in defeat. Just as he was starting to wish Zeira Corp was a little closer, he felt a pair of soft lips press against his cheek, causing him to smile. When she pulled back, he was grinning like an idiot and sending a silent thank you to his future self for being the smartest and kindest guy on the planet.

* * *

If it weren't for Amy's internal chronometer, she would have been sure that Sarah had been crying for hours. In actuality it had only been a few minutes.

When the last few sobs died down, Sarah brought her outstretched back towards her face and started wiping and rubbing at the now dried tears. Amy shuffled her little body off of Sarah's back and moved so that she was now laying by her side, studying her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, as quietly and gently as possible.

Sarah sniffled a little and surprisingly chuckled.

"No, not really"

Amy smiled sadly in reply.

"I'm sorry, but you needed to know that, and I couldn't let you do what you were planning on doing"

"It's okay…tell me about them. My son, and…my future daughter in law. What are they like in the future?"

Amy smiled a real genuine smile this time and spoke in an enthusiastic voice.

"Sarah they're wonderful people. Everybody loves them…well, almost everyone. There are still those who will always hate us machines. But John made it very clear to everyone that he loves Cameron for who and what she is. Once he'd established himself as pretty much humanity's only hope, and after it emerged that Cameron was a machine and that he was married to her, he actually threatened to leave. He threatened to leave humanity to its fate if any harm ever came to Cameron from anyone under his command…"

She paused for a moment to let her words sink in.

"…Your son grows up to be a great man. You raised him well and he eventually learned to appreciate everything you did for him. He is the one man that any soldier in the human resistance would lay his life down for. Even some of the reprogrammed machines came to appreciate his talents and leadership. He remembers every fallen soldier like they were his brothers. He still holds memorial services for the dead, despite their being too many deaths to count, and the families of those soldiers love him all the more for it…"

She paused again and watched as fresh tears started to well up again in Sarah's eyes.

"…But it's Cameron who gives him his strength. Sure they don't always get along just like any other couple. The soldiers know that too and they make sure they're as far away from them as possible whenever they have a falling out. John has a tendency to become far too serious and strict when he's not getting any, once even going as far as ordering the civilians in his compound to start cleaning the hallways en masse. They were sparkling by the time they'd got back together. Cameron however feels a sudden urge to lash out at anyone who happens to make the tiniest mistake whenever she's around. Once she almost ripped a guy's arms off because he had the misfortune of having squeaky boots when he was on guard duty outside their quarters. She came out full of hell and accused him of working for Skynet and trying to subvert the resistance's efforts by making too much noise and keeping her awake…"

"Awake?" Sarah asked through a sniffle.

"…Oh, yeah. She took a bit of a hit to her power circuitry a couple of years after the war started and John couldn't repair the damage. So now she has to go in to standby for three hours, every seventy two hours. It was only John's timely reappearance that saved this poor sap from being turned in to a big pile of bones and meat. Let me tell you, Private Jones wasn't quite the same man after that incident…always took really good care of his boots after that for some reason. Well anyway, that's the bad side of Cameron. The good side is what John always sees in her and what the rest of his men are learning to see. The side that helps out in the mess when there are more refugees around than usual. The side that makes her eyes glow blue to entertain the kids, and the side that saw some good in me…"

"You okay?" Sarah asked upon hearing Amy's hesitation.

"…Yeah. Oh, and she's really good with kids too. They adore her, the wife of General John. They don't care that she's a machine, all that matters to them is that she's a nice lady. But then again they don't see the side that gets out there on the battlefield and takes out more enemies than the rest of her squad put together. But they don't really mind, they would follow her to their deaths. She commands the most elite tactical unit in the entire resistance, humans, former SEAL's. If those guys respect her, then everyone else damn well does too. Plus, her daughter really loves her…

"DAUGHTER?" Sarah shouted, wide eyed in surprise. Amy merely smiled fondly and continued her story.

"…Yeah, her daughter. Obviously not in a biological sense, but still as much her daughter as she is anyone else's. It's a long story that maybe I'll tell you some day. But suffice to say that the little baby girl that John and Cameron adopted is thoroughly loved by both parents, and I'd hate to see what would happen to anyone that ever dared threaten harm against her"

Sarah sat stunned for a few moments and let all of Amy's words sink in. The news that John and Cameron were not only destined to be together but also married had initially deeply shook her. But now after hearing how good a couple they make and that there was a little baby girl involved, she forced herself to listen to her heart and not her head. Her heart was telling her that 'love conquers all', 'so what if she's a machine, he loves her'. But her head was telling her 'she'll go bad', 'you've failed as a mother', 'how could you let him fall for a machine?'.

Deep down she knew it was inevitable, as soon as she watched him offer her a chip outside the dilapidated old gas station in 1999, she knew that he would eventually fall for her. But when she saw Cameron accept the chip and swallow it down like any normal person after offering a ghost of a smile to her son, that was the moment that confirmed in her heart that Cameron was indeed different from the other machines. But her head won out over the next few years and she made sure that both herself and her son kept the cyborg at arms length, never allowing her to get too close. But something changed one day. She wasn't sure of the significance at the time, but it all started around the time they came back from the mall with Cameron full of holes. She didn't say anything at the time, but she always wondered why Cameron had a fresh manicure and why John had lied to cover for her.

That was the moment that his arms reach suddenly started to bend in the middle. Now she was so close to him that he could smell her perfume and feel her pressed up against him. Suddenly it made sense why John had put on their little argumental display without telling Cameron their true plans. He'd said he didn't want her to worry and Sarah didn't believe him…until now. It scared Sarah, and it made her lash out violently when that terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach was finally confirmed a short while ago. But now that she'd had time to let it sink in, she accepted that she couldn't change what was inevitable from day one. Just as she'd come to accept that Judgement day was inevitable, she could now accept that John and Cameron were meant to be together. But she swore at that moment she'd never be a bridesmaid for Cameron's wedding.

* * *

By the time the future husband and wife had reached the Zeira Corp building and pulled in to the underground parking lot, John was so horny that he briefly considered pulling the truck in to a back alley and indulging himself with Cameron in the back seat. He was pretty sure she wouldn't mind and decided it was probably what she'd been angling for the whole journey anyway…or rather, he hoped it was. Just as he was trying to gather up the courage to ask something along those lines, he was startled by a surly looking security guard knocking on the driver's side window. John rolled down the window and plastered on a fake smile.

"Can I help you sir?" the enthusiasm just dripped from his question…

"Yes please sir, Ms. Weaver is expecting us. Could you tell her that her business partner and his girlfriend have arrived please?" John replied in an annoyingly cheerful voice. He could have swore he saw the guard wince at the sheer chirpyness of it.

"Of course sir. Please pull in to a free space and head to the security desk. You'll be escorted to the elevator and Ms. Weaver will meet you in the lobby" he sounded like he might fall fast asleep while reciting the obviously much rehearsed and repeated instructions.

John smiled another cheerful smile at the guard and rolled up the window. He stared at the chubby man's back as he wandered back to his 'office'.

"Jackass" he muttered under his breath.

He however did as instructed and backed the truck in to a free space. He stopped the engine and hopped out of the driver's side door. Quickly dashing around to the passenger's side, he opened the door and held out his hand for Cameron to take. She smiled at his gesture and accepted the offer, placing her hand in his and gracefully stepping out of the truck. He released her hand long enough to open the back door and grab their bags off the back seat. He let his gaze linger on said back seat, slightly regretting not getting the chance to test it out this time.

_Still plenty of time Johnny boy._

Even his monologue was in a good mood as he took tight hold of Cameron's hand again and led her to the security desk. The guard grudgingly stood up to meet them and gestured to the elevator doors behind the desk. He led them over there and used his keycard to signal for the elevator. When it arrived he stepped in first then turned and waited for the couple to enter. They did and turned away from him to face the door. The guard leaned forward to press the button for the lobby, ensuring he brushed past Cameron closely enough to catch a significant view down her top. He resumed his position behind them as the elevator began to move. Both John and Cameron noticed through the use of the mirrored walls of the elevator that the guard was unable to keep his lecherous eyes off the back of Cameron's skirt. John noticed a familiar blank stare on her face that she got just before she went in to Terminator mode and subtly gave her hand a squeeze to get her attention. He discreetly shook his head at her. She tilted her head in disappointment at not being able to disembowel this unpleasant little man and was about to say something when John winked at her. He spoke in a tiny voice that only Cameron and her auditory sensors could hear.

"Play along"

She was actually somewhat impressed at his ability to read what was on her mind and what she was planning. She nodded and smirked a little in anticipation of whatever he had planned.

"So babe, what do you think Weaver wants to talk to us about?"

"I don't know, but it'll be interesting whatever it is"

"Yeah, I suppose it will"

The guard didn't hear a word they said and jumped a little when the ding of the elevator doors opening brought his attention away from running his eyes up and down the backs of Cameron's legs.

"Thank you for your assistance sir…come on babe…" he slapped Cameron's behind rather firmly and gave it a squeeze for good measure "…wouldn't want to keep Ms. Weaver waiting now would we?"

They stepped out of the elevator like that with John's hand still on Cameron's ass. John snuck a glance back at the security guard who had his mouth hanging open like a fish out of its tank. When the doors finally closed he removed his hand and turned to face Cameron's inquisitive stare.

"Sorry for that. But you'll quickly learn that the best way of dealing with disgusting perverts like him is to show them what they'll never have. Either that or you could have ripped his eyeballs out. This way hurt less I guess"

"Hmph, that's easy for you to say. You didn't just get slapped on your ass…" she brought her hand round and firmly slapped his ass just like he'd done to her a few moments ago. She purposefully held back, but she was pretty sure it would leave a minor bruise "…thank you for your advice"

John stood and stared at her devious grin for a moment before watching it disappear and give way to a blank mask. She looked away from him and he followed her gaze to see Catherine Weaver striding across the lobby with an arrogant swagger, as if to say, 'you're in my house now'.

* * *

Sarah and Amy continued to lay on the living room floor, neither feeling the need to move. Amy had been watching Sarah for the last few minutes as she digested what she'd just been told. She felt guilty for having to be the one to tell her the news she knew would make her this upset. At that moment she decided to go against her orders from future John to try and make her feel better.

"Sarah?"

Sarah's eyes focused on Amy's after a moments disorientation.

"Hmm?"

"You okay?"

"Better"

"Good…I have something else to tell you"

"Oh god, not more earth shattering news?" she joked, but upon seeing Amy's serious face she stopped chuckling.

"Well, sort of. But it's good news…kind of. It'll cheer you up either way"

"Okay, shoot"

Amy looked at Sarah with an annoyed glare.

"I've told you, I don't like guns"

"Amy, it's an expression. It means, go ahead"

"I know, I'm just teasing…"

Amy took a moment to let Sarah's own glare subside before she started.

"…First of all I want you to know that I'm going against John's orders by telling you this"

"I thought you didn't follow John's orders? I thought you didn't follow anyone's orders?"

"I'm not programmed to follow anyone's orders. I choose to follow John's, that's the difference. But I'm choosing not to follow this one"

Sensing this was something important, Sarah clammed up and merely nodded for Amy to continue.

"You remember what my primary mission is?"

Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, it's to hunt down the traitors, these greys you told us about"

"Yes…but I wasn't being entirely truthful about my mission…"

* * *

"Now remember Mr. Connor. The person you are about to meet is John Henry. No matter what he may look like, please believe me when I tell you that you have never met before…"

Catherine looked back over her shoulder as she clip clopped her way down the hallway of her basement, looking for an agreement from John which she got in the form of a curt nod.

"…Excellent. I trust that I'll also have no problems from you Ms. Phillips?"

Once again she glanced over her shoulder, this time at Cameron instead of John. Despite her usual unflappable demeanour, Catherine actually felt a little unnerved by the blank stare she was receiving from the young cyborg. She was the one person who was capable of scuppering her plans. The one person who could undermine this alliance. If she held as much sway over the General as she suspected, and she didn't like what she heard at these talks, then this new alliance would be dead before it was even created.

"No" came Cameron's to the point response.

"Good…" they arrived at a nondescript door and Catherine stopped "then may I introduce to you both…John Henry"

She pushed the door open and John's knees almost gave out from underneath him. There, staring back at him with a cheerful grin on his face was the machine that hunted him for over a year of his life. Cromartie sat behind the desk playing with a small yellow duck and smiling happily with Savannah. Were it not for Cameron swiftly moving behind him to support his weight, John was sure he would have collapsed. His surprise however quickly turned to anger. But before he could do anything about it, Cameron softly whispered in to his ear.

"John, remember, this isn't Cromartie. It's just his triple eight body. This is John Henry, you've never met him before…" she discreetly gave his back a reassuring rub "…Don't worry. I'll be right beside you the whole time"

John took a deep breath to let his anger subside. Eventually he turned and smiled at Cameron gratefully. After mouthing a quick 'thank you' to her, he turned and faced John Henry with his General Connor face in place. He cautiously stepped in to the room and John Henry looked up at him with a smile.

"Hello Mr. Connor, how are you today?" John Henry asked in a very cheerful voice, almost child like in its enthusiasm.

Upon hearing the greeting, Savannah turned to face them and almost squealed in delight at seeing her new friends. She hopped down off her seat and ran over to Cameron and latched on to her hand and started tugging.

"Come on Cameron, this is John Henry and these are the duckies. We're playing with them, come on"

Despite her continued tugging, Cameron didn't budge. She instead kept her eyes focused on Catherine and John Henry.

"What's wrong?" a disappointed Savannah asked.

"Savannah darling, come here please"

Savannah let go of Cameron's hand, slightly upset that she'd been shunned by someone she thought was her friend. She trudged over to her mother with a slight sniffle. Catherine knelt down and placed her hands on Savannah's arms gently.

"Cameron and John are here on business, very important business. I'm sure that once they are done then Cameron will play with you"

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sure she can't wait. Now come along, let's leave them to talk with John Henry"

She stood up, taking Savannah's hand with her and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them. Cameron did feel a twinge of guilt at ignoring the little girl, but there were far more important things to think about. The primary concern being John's safety, and the other being these negotiations. If she didn't like what she heard or detected any form of deception, then she was more than willing to inform John of those facts. Whether he would believe her or not was another issue, but she had a feeling he would.

While she was busy with her musings, John had quietly taken a couple of steps forward towards John Henry. She quickly caught up to him and resumed her position at his side.

"So…you're John Henry" it was more of a statement than a question.

"I am. Please, sit" he held out his hand and gestured to the two chairs on the opposite side of the table.

John took one carefully while Cameron stood behind him in her guard stance.

"Ms. Phillips, I can assure you I have no intention of harming Mr. Connor. You may sit if you like"

John hadn't noticed she wasn't sitting down, such was his focus on John Henry. He reached out and tugged her hand until she was sitting beside him. He chose not to release her hand and settled for gently caressing her knuckles with his thumb. He was sure it brought far more comfort to himself than it did to her.

"Excellent, we have much to discuss"

John Henry smiled a crooked, creepy smile and John felt a shiver run down his spine.

* * *

"What do you mean, weren't being entirely truthful?"

Amy took a moment to consider how much she wanted to tell Sarah. She settled on telling her the whole truth of why she was here in the past.

"Have you noticed that I haven't exactly been doing a lot of grey hunting lately?"

Sarah hadn't. Actually she hadn't even noticed the little machine leaving the house.

"Now that you mention it"

"That's because…that's not my mission…that's my cover"

"Your cover?"

"Shortly after I arrived I destroyed a triple eight, the one that attacked Cameron at the mall. We know in the future that this terminator was responsible for a lot of bad things happening in this timeline. John once told me that in this timeline, you never gave up the fight to stop Skynet from ever being created. He said you all spent all your time hunting down potential leads and getting in to more than a few scrapes. Just before Judgement day was due to happen, you stumbled across this Terminator again…It killed you Sarah"

Sarah's jaw dropped. First she found out she was going to die of cancer, and now somebody told her that she was going to be killed by a machine.

"So…it's dead though right?"

"Yes, it is. But that doesn't mean my mission is over…"

At Sarah's confused look Amy clarified her statement.

"…Sarah, John loves you. He always loves you. He talks about you every day in the future. The soldiers revere you from the stories he tells. He never quite got over your death, over the fact that you didn't live to see judgement day and of the fact that you were killed by one of them. Sarah, John sent me back as a gift…to you…"

Sarah's mouth moved in a vain attempt to speak, however the sheer emotion of what she'd just been told overwhelmed her.

"…I'm here to protect you Sarah. You've never had a bodyguard before, you've always been the one doing the guarding. John felt it was time to repay the favour. He couldn't send himself back, so he sent me instead and made me promise to protect you as best I could"

At that moment, Sarah had never loved her son so much in her life. She loved him so much that it almost made her forget her earlier anger upon finding out that eventually he'd marry a machine.

"So that's why you came with me to meet Weaver?"

Amy nodded "It was my mission".

"Dammit John"

She couldn't hold back the tears any more. She broke down crying again, but this time she felt real non metallic arms circle her. Amy was awkwardly hugging her. Instead of being repulsed and scared by it, Sarah found her arms, almost on autopilot, reaching out to return the hug.

Eventually the fatigue of the last few hours overcome her and she drifted of in to a peaceful sleep, still with her arms around Amy. She fell asleep with the knowledge that her beloved son was being protected by the woman he loved, and that for once in her life she was being protected by the deadliest killing machine on the planet. Never before had she felt so safe.

* * *

As if on cue, just as John stood to conclude the first meeting, Catherine entered the room.

_How does she do that?_

"Mr. Connor, you look tired. I've set aside sleeping quarters for you and Cameron"

"Really?"

"Of course. Many of my employees choose to work late on various projects. Sometimes it's easier for them to stay here"

John still found it odd that a T-1001 would have employees, and more surprisingly would take their sleeping arrangements in to consideration. He waved his arm in an 'after you' gesture.

"Lead the way…" he turned back to John Henry who still wore that creepy smile "…nice meeting you John Henry"

"You too Mr. Connor, sleep well"

John left the room with Cameron closely in tow behind him. As they walked along the corridor towards the elevator, Catherine spoke.

"I've arranged for an entire floor to be cleared…" she looked over her shoulder at Cameron "…and secured for you. John Henry monitors security for this building. Don't worry, you'll be quite safe"

She held out a keycard for John to take.

"This card will grant you access to the top floor of this building. I'm sure once you're there you'll be able to find your accommodations easily enough. They're not lavish in any way, but they're comfortable"

John took the keycard from her and stepped in to the elevator, closely followed by Cameron. He swiped the keycard over the reader and the doors started to close.

"Good night Mr. Connor" Catherine said through the small gap in the doors, sporting a somewhat creepy grin of her own.

When the doors closed, John let out a yawn he'd been stifling for the last hour and turned to face a distracted looking Cameron.

"You're awfully quiet. Something on your mind" he snaked his arm around her waist and was disappointed when she didn't return the gesture.

"I'm thinking"

"About what?"

She turned to face him with her patented 'are you an idiot?' look on her face.

"About the future, about this alliance, about you"

"Oh yeah, that"

_Smooth Johnny._

The elevator doors opened with a ding and the couple stepped out. When the doors had closed, Cameron took the keycard from John and tucked it in her back pocket. He was about to ask her about it, but the look on her face told him not to mess with her on security matters tonight. They walked silently down the corridor until they came to a heavy wooden door, a departure from the clean and sterile plastic doors that adorned the rest of this building. Cameron entered first, followed by John.

He was somewhat surprised to find that their bags were resting on the double bed. He remembered handing them over to an employee in the lobby and then totally forgot about them.

_Wait, what? Double bed?_

John did a quick scan of the room and let out a low whistle.

"Wow, I'd love to see what Weaver considers to be lavish. This place trumps any hotel room I've ever been in"

While he was gawking at the room, Cameron was milling around checking all the exits and inspecting the room for surveillance devices. Satisfied that there was no immediate threat, she walked over to John.

"The room is secure"

With that, she leaned past him and picked up her bag and headed in to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" John called after her.

"To change"

_Duh._

John strolled over to the large windows the room possessed. The Zeira Corp building overlooked most of downtown L.A. and despite it being nearly three in the morning, the city still looked alive with the sheer amount of lights and movement. He must have been staring for a good few minutes when Cameron emerged from the bathroom. John turned to face her and saw that she'd changed in to her favourite purple pyjamas. She smiled at him when she noticed his stare and sauntered over to him. She stood on her tip toes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, earning herself a bright grin in return. They stared in to each others eyes for a long few moments. Then suddenly Cameron turned on her heels and headed for the door.

"Wait, where are you going now?" John asked, quite clearly confused as to her behaviour.

She stopped with her hand on the handle and looked back over her shoulder at him.

"I'm going to patrol" she said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Cameron, this place is safe. Weaver said…"

"I'd rather make sure for myself, and you need your rest" Cameron reasoned, cutting him off mid flow.

The slight change in her voice told him that this was something important to her and he wasn't in the mood to argue with her about it. Instead he nodded and she left the room. John sighed defeatedly, walked over to the bed and opened his bag. He dug around for a moment before realising he hadn't packed anything to sleep in. He settled for stripping down to his boxers and t-shirt and climbed in to the very comfortable bed.

His mind however wouldn't let him sleep as it continued to play through what had been said at the meeting and the events of the day. The future was being planned in that room. Ways to cripple Skynet in its infancy and end the war much sooner than he'd thought ran through his head at a pace he couldn't keep up with. He tossed and turned for the best part of an hour before he heard the door click open quietly. He rolled over and saw a silhouette in the doorway.

"Cameron? What's wrong?"

She stepped in to he room fully and closed the door behind her, plunging the room back in to near darkness.

"It's cold…"

_Huh?_

John sat up in bed and did his best to make her out in the darkness.

"What do you mean? I thought you didn't feel cold?"

"I feel everything" she took a couple of steps closer to the bed and John could finally make out her face and it's kicked puppy expression.

He lifted the covers and patted the spot beside him invitingly.

"Come here"

She hesitated a moment before clambering in to bed beside him. She curled up facing away from him and he wrapped his arms around her from behind, pressing his body up against hers for warmth.

"Sorry, I didn't realise the cold bothered you"

"It doesn't usually. But the floor is indeed secure. I would rather not be needlessly uncomfortable if I could avoid it"

She turned over so that she was now facing him. John readjusted himself so that he still held her in a hug.

"Well I'm glad you're here with me and not out there in the cold"

John closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep. A cool hand slowly drawing its way up his side prevented it however. He kept his eyes closed and just enjoyed her exploratory touches. Her fingertips made their way up and down his side and were joined by another hand on his chest, just above his heart. He opened his eyes to find her studying him intently. She looked up and smiled at him.

"I like this"

"Like what?" he asked curiously.

"Being this close to you"

She leaned in and gently pressed her lips to his. Her hand that was on his side made its way to his face and cupped his cheek while she deepened the kiss. John placed one hand on her hip and enjoyed the taste of her tongue as it caressed his. He slowly drew the hand that was on her hip up and down her body, taking in every womanly curve. Eventually he explored further north and gently cupped her breast while moving his lips down to her neck. She arched back slightly to give him greater access to her body. He licked, kissed and sucked at her neck while he gently kneaded her breast. He pushed her back gently until she was flat on her back. He positioned himself on top of her and resumed kissing her soft lips. Her hands found their way to his back and dipped under his t-shirt. She gave it a slight tug and he took the hint, raising his arms above his head so she could remove it from him. When he was free of the shirt, he did the same to her and pulled the tank top she was wearing over her head, exposing her bare chest to him. This was the first time he'd seen her exposed in this way. Of course he'd seen her naked when they time travelled, but at that point he was too busy trying not to look at his mother to really notice her.

"You're beautiful Cameron" he muttered as he went to work attacking her neck again.

She smiled and leaned in to his touch while bringing her legs up to wrap around him. She felt his hands make their way to her breasts and she gasped involuntarily as his fingertip brushed over her nipple. She'd never felt sensation like this before and it made her want more. Her fingernails raked up and down his back leaving red marks behind. She started grinding her hips against his as his mouth moved lower, eventually making their way to her breasts. While he worked his tongue all over the area, exploring her fully, his hands moved lower and dipped under the waistband of her pyjamas. He pulled back and pulled the ridiculously cute pants off, exposing her long bare legs. He noticed she'd skipped on the underwear and it brought a smile to his face. This time her hands found their way to his boxers and gave them a sharp tug, tearing them clean off of him. She was too busy examining what she found beneath to notice the highly amused look on his face at her urgency to disrobe him.

He leaned back down on top of her and tenderly pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back and looked at her slightly flushed face. He thought he saw a faint hint of blue behind her usual brown eyes. He thought she looked beautiful.

"I…I…I love you Cameron"

Her eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and delight. The look was quickly removed however as she saw he was expecting a response. A response she couldn't give him.

"John, I…"

She was silenced when he kissed her again.

"I know you don't truly know about love yet, so please, don't lie to me because it's what you think I want to hear. When you do love me, you tell me okay?"

She nodded and pulled him down for a deep, passionate kiss. By the time it was over he was gasping for air and looking down at her smiling and grateful face.

"Now, are you gonna make a man out of me or what?"

* * *

**Well, there you go, that's it for part 2 and I hope you all enjoyed it.**

**Yeah I wussed out on the Jamsex scene. However I didn't want to get overtly graphic (although I really could have) as I don't think it fits the light hearted nature of the story or the 'T' rating.**

**There is a pretty good discussion of my stories going on in this thread:**

**h t t p :// tsccwiki . wetpaint . com/thread/3655064/Just+Something+I+Should+Do (remove the spaces)**

**So feel free to join in or PM me if you have any questions.**

**I will be taking a break from this story for a while before I start work on part 3. I plan on writing a short story set in the future with John, Amy and Cameron so keep an eye out for that.**


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